Two Pink Lines
by Lythren
Summary: It's funny what needs to happen to make you realize how much you love some one.This story is about how one little slip up gives Kakashi and Sakura a world of trouble... Or maybe not. Finished! :D
1. They Were Late

They were late...Again. More than likely due to Kakashi's bad influence. He had the worst concept of time.

Sakura sighed as she checked for the tenth time to make sure her place settings were straight. They weren't always late. Some times they were so early that they caught her in the process of making dinner, but today was one of the few times they were very late.

Honestly, she had important things to do during the day too, she trained on Sundays also. She trained for a few hours in the morning, made her rounds at the emergency clinic, did her two hour class for the medical students and then, just like every Sunday for over three years now, she rushed home to prepare dinner for her boys. They were more than her team; they were her family. After her parents had died, they were the only family she had.

Sundays were their days to meet up for dinner. It had all started when after their mission pay had been split up equally four ways, they noticed that Sakura had gotten a little bit more as a bonus for her medical training. A wise crack about how she needed to treat them to dinner turned into a traditional Sunday dinner amongst her adopted family. She could say with confidence that they didn't dread it. It would normally go late into the night as they sat around and talked about past missions, future missions, and their routines that didn't involve one of their team mates. It also became the dinner of acceptance for the group.

When one wanted to do the traditional "Bring your significant other over to meet the family," they brought them to Sunday dinner. They were all orphans, so they were the closest thing to family they had.

Sasuke was more nervous than Ino when he brought her to dinner to announce that they were getting married. He tried to keep a cool exterior, but he was almost shaking as he stared at Sakura, almost begging for her approval. Sasuke had told her that he hadn't loved Ino, that he only wanted to start restoring his clan. Ino also knew this and she still loved Sasuke dearly in spite of his claims. The fact that he was desperately seeking approval from the group, Sakura especially, made her feel that there was more to his claims than even he realized. He had feelings for Ino he probably didn't even know it yet.

He slumped with relief when the girls squealed and were jumping up and down in delight after the announcement was made.

Sasuke's return to Konoha made Sakura realize that she wasn't in love with him. She loved him of course, he was now one of the best friends she had ever had, but it was different now. Those years of desperately searching for him and worrying whether he was safe and healthy made her snap out of the girly puppy love phase. She would do anything for Sasuke, the same way she would do anything for Naruto or Kakashi. So the fact that he was now married didn't bother her at all.

Ino was a wonderful wife and a strong Kunoichi. She and Sakura ran the emergency clinic located right by the gates of Konoha. It was meant for stabilizing shinobi who came back wounded from missions before transporting them to the hospital. Tsunade couldn't hide her pride that her two best apprentices teamed up to offer such a service for their village. It also served as a spot for Medical students to train which eased some of the burden off of the hospital.

It had grown so well that Sakura didn't have to watch it as much anymore, Ino had become the supervisor and Sakura only did rounds on Sunday mornings and came in for emergencies. This made Sakura happy because she could continue on the mission roster with her team. She loved working in the emergency clinic but Ino was more than capable running it with out her. It had become Ino's pride and joy.

Hinata's first dinner was amusing. The girl was so shy sitting at the table surrounded by Naruto's nearest and dearest. She was far from ignored as everyone was sure to include her on every conversation. Even Sasuke made an effort to speak to her. Hinata was glowing red as Naruto threw his arm around her and exclaimed that the Hyuuga clan finally had accepted his request to date her, though they had been dating for two years in secret. No one knew but close friends and Naruto's team AKA family. She smiled at them memory of Hinata's first invitation to the dinners, she was so excited but so nervous whether everyone would accept her. Hinata hadn't realized she had been accepted way before the dinners ever existed.

Sakura couldn't help but be astonished at how close they had come over the passed eight years. She was twenty now, yet felt so much older. All the things they had went through. When Sasuke returned finally, their group became closer than before. As if they secretly vowed that an event like that would not tear them apart again. The Uchiha complex was where they all lived now. Sasuke had come to terms with the fact it was his clan's home and he actually admitted to caring deeply for his friends enough that the complex didn't make him feel like a storm cloud was looming over head. He wanted to start over.

The large plot of land was practically a small village inside of the Konoha. It was just sitting there, abandoned after his clan was murdered. He saw the group moving into homes of their choosing on the complex as a way to put the past behind him. He had come to this conclusion when Sakura's parents had just died and she wasn't quite a Jounin. She couldn't afford her own home yet and she had no place to go.

Her parent's home was destroyed, and an apartment would cost her every penny she made. So he invited her and Naruto, so he would stop drinking discount milk that soured in a day and ramen to survive and pay rent, to live on the complex. Much to their exasperation he continued to eat ramen to this day.

The three of them worked on Kakashi to get him to move. It wasn't till a stroke of luck, or inconvenience to Kakashi, that his apartment complex was going to be remodeled and the prices were about to sky rocket. Kakashi could afford the prices, but he was a bit stingy. The only thing he really bought in abundance was his beloved Icha Icha series. Even faced with the fact that he was about to be kicked out of his home for remodeling and needed a place to stay he still tried to argue. That was Kakashi though.

Sakura smiled at the thought of her team leader and former sensei. He had decided not to teach anymore and stay with team seven, now called team Kakashi. He was more like a big brother to the group now, and she could sense that he was relieved when Sasuke had returned and things were good again. He had missed their group as much as the rest of them, though he tended to not openly admit it like her and Naruto. She felt like she was to Kakashi what Naruto was to Sasuke. One may be quieter than the other, but the one who spoke voiced enough for the both of them.

Sakura's deep thoughts were disturbed by her door opening. She looked up to see three nervous grins, one in a mask, staring at her.

"You're late!" She said in a huff as she stood up, hands on her hips.

"We can explain Sakura-chan… Sasuke was called to the clinic because Ino-" Naruto was interrupted as Sakura's hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes wide as they all started frantically waving their hands.

"No-no-no! She's ok, she just found out she's-"Naruto said quickly and Sakura dropped into her chair letting out a loud sigh of relief.

"God you guys! Don't do that!" Sakura exclaimed just as she noticed Sasuke was shaking a little as Kakashi gave him a hard pat on the shoulder.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi said, his voice hinted that he was smiling,"Sasuke is going to be a father."


	2. Announcement

I am just getting to posting this story here, but I have up to chapter 16 on am going to post the complete story here too though. So no worries.

* * *

Sakura threw the door of bar open to see Ino standing there drinking a glass of water. To what Sakura hoped was water anyway. Ino turned to her and they stared at each other for a good moment. The boys were standing behind her and the occupants of the bar had grown silent. The air was thick as the two girls eyed each other down.

Ino was the first to make a sound as a sob broke from her throat, her arms opened wide as they both rushed to each other sobbing happily and mumbling to each other incoherently.

Sakura hugged Ino tightly as she cried happily along with her friend.

"Ino, you're going to be a mommy." This made Ino hug Sakura tighter and sob again.

"You're going to be an Auntie." Ino managed to splutter out, which caused the two to go into more hysterical crying and hugging.

Sakura couldn't believe that Ino was going to have a baby. She was happy beyond words, but a small part of her had been a little envious. Not because of whom she was having a baby with, but the fact she was having her first baby. Sakura had given up dating over a year ago and focused on honing her medical skills and her missions with her team. She was content on just being herself and living her life with out a guy. The only thing she realized she was missing was the fact you needed a guy to have children. It took years for her to realize that babies were not snotty little brats who only screamed, pooped, and slept. She hugged Ino tighter, so she wouldn't see some of her tears weren't all out of happiness.

Sakura leaned back quickly, wiping her face as she smiled at Ino.

"I'm so happy for you two. I can't wait to see what the little guy looks like." Sakura said as Ino smiled brightly and they made their way to a table. As they sat down and collected themselves, she noticed Ino started to wring her hands nervously.

"I wanted to ask you something Sakura…" Sakura looked up to see Ino staring at her intently. She leaned in to urge her on and so she could hear her better in the loud bar. Ino looked down, almost shyly as she continued.

"Will you deliver my baby?"

Sakura's eyes widened slightly at the request. The trust that Ino was demonstrating toward her shocked her slightly. The fact she had only just found out today and she already knew that she wanted Sakura to deliver her first child. Fresh tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill down her already damp cheeks.

"Ino…" Her expression softened even more as she smiled so bright that she could have been mistaken for the one with the happy news. "Of course I will…"

Much of the conversation after that had turned into excited chatter. Though Sakura was just as excited about the new generation starting to sprout in Konoha, she couldn't help but notice that she was slowly drifting into a bad mood. She thanked the Heavens when Ino announced she was going home to rest. She would never forgive herself if she ruined Ino's wonderful day.

She watched with amusement as Ino went to the now three overly tipsy men sitting at the bar. The alcohol must have weakened his façade, because when Ino gave him a kiss on the cheek goodnight she saw tenderness in his eyes that she had never seen before. He was falling hard for his wife, though it was a little backwards to say the least. He also drunkenly smiled as he watched her walk out the door. She knew he didn't even know he was falling for her. Though it added slightly to her bitterness that was growing in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but smile at the man. It was like having her own romance book playing out right in front of her eyes.

Sakura stood and sighed, she needed a drink. She learned a long time ago that she had an alcohol tolerance of a five year old, but she was with her team and they lived so close together that if one of them had to carry her home tonight it would serve them right for making her have to put all of tonight's dinner in the fridge. They had promised that tomorrow morning they would meet up for breakfast at her house instead if she would come out with them, but that was more to their benefit than hers. They had all skipped dinner to run down to the bar to drink in celebration of the new beginning of the Uchiha clan. Drinking on an empty stomach wasn't such a smart idea though.

Sakura was once again startled out of her thoughts to see a pink cheeked Naruto shoot from his chair and exclaim," Well, maybe I will!"

He bolted across the bar to where Tenten and Lee were sitting with Hinata. Not even breaking his stride he dropped to his knees and slid up to a very surprised Hinata.

"N-Naruto?..." He took both of her hands in his and smiled up at her.

"I love you Hinata… Though it took me so long to notice it, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." The bar grew silent once more as Hinata turned a lovely shade of pink. "Will you marry me?"

A pin drop could have been heard at that very moment. Everyone was on edge as the very shy girl blinked repeatedly in shock. Lee had covered his mouth to suppress a cough, almost fearing that his cough might influence her answer. Hinata's face broke into a beautiful, sweet smile as she quietly nodded and whispered, "Yes…"

The bar went wild as if their favorite team had just scored. Naruto was twirling Hinata around the table that she had just recently been sitting at where Tenten was now elbowing a very nervous Lee and pouting. The bar seemed to be humming with a new excitement.

She _REALLY_ needed a drink.


	3. His thoughts on the evening

As the men followed Sakura into the bar, they noticed how still she had gotten. They held their breath as the seconds ticked by. When Ino sobbed and rushed Sakura into a hug, they all slumped with relief.

Kakashi laughed along with Naruto at Sasuke's face. The poor guy wanted to restore his clan, but Kakashi had to wonder whether or not he realized that meant having children. The realization the he was going to be a father had affected him as he drunkenly stumbled around town with the other two men the rest of the day. He needed a drink and a good nights rest to let the idea sink in. Naruto left Kakashi's side to seek out Hinata and Kakashi took that as a queue to steer Sasuke to the bar.

"Come on Sasuke, let's get you a drink."

"Yeah…" Sasuke mumbled as he plopped onto the chair. Kakashi sat next to him with out even asking, sake was sat in front of him by the bartender. He poured him and Sasuke some after thanking the bartender. He lifted his and sipped it through his mask. Sasuke broke from his haze for a moment as he sipped his own sake and stared at Kakashi. "Do you ever take that thing off?"

"Only when I sleep, eat and shower." Kakashi said as if he was checking off a list. Sasuke sighed and poured more sake for him and Kakashi.

"You always turn and eat with your back to us when you eat too. One of these days you're going to slip up and one of us is going to see whether or not you have buck teeth or fat lips."

"Or both." Kakashi said as his eye creased in a smile and Sasuke twitched a little. Kakashi laughed as he finished downed the rest of the sake in his cup. He glanced over just when Sakura's eyes widen, as if shocked about something.

He couldn't help but stare as her face broke into a beautiful smile. Sakura had really grown into a beautiful woman. She had a fury that rivaled Tsunade's, but a sweetness that even melted his heart. He never really admitted it, but this group was his family, and she was the glue that held it together. He watched her when she busied herself making them dinner, or worked to heal the injured. She always had a sweet aura about her as she did it. Something that no matter uncomfortable you were, the second she entered the room you couldn't help but relax. That's if she was in a good mood of course. He watched as her eyes glittered with tears as she spoke. That smile, no matter how many times he saw it, always caught him off guard.

He realized just how long he was staring and shook his head. He didn't need to be giving anyone any wrong ideas. She was currently having a dry spell when it came to romantic relationships and he didn't want people to think it was because of him. She was just a friend. She was a very close, good friend. Still only a friend though. More like family really, but no romantic interest at all.

He repeated this meaning a few times more in his head, just with different wording.

He always wondered why she stopped seeking a relationship though. It of course didn't help when they surveyed each guy she brought home with such intensity that they were paranoid to even hold her hand.

'_Only the best for our Sakura-chan...' _he thought to himself as he turned to see Sasuke had poured him more sake.

Alcohol on an empty stomach was never a good idea, but he pushed the thought aside just for tonight. It was time to relax and celebrate Sasuke's good fortune.

Naruto dropped into a seat next to Sasuke, a beer in hand.

"I don't know how you can stand that stuff. It tastes like rubbing alcohol." Naruto said as he sipped his beer.

"Well this will knock you off your ass faster. Plus, beer tastes like carbonated dog piss." Sasuke said, taking joy in the sour face Naruto made at his comment.

"You would know what carbonated dog piss tastes like, huh Sasuke?" Kakashi said slyly and now Sasuke was giving him a sour look that rivaled Naruto's.

"Kiba told me." He said with a amused sneer on his face. Some where in the bar they heard a loud sneeze from Kiba. Naruto snickered and patted Sasuke on the back.

"I can't believe you have an ankle biter on the way. And with Ino no less! Here is hoping it's not a girl or you are going to have to beat the boys back with a stick." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at Naruto's comment as the corner of his mouth raised, his version of beaming with pride.

Sasuke twitched again as a hand touch his shoulder and Ino leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"I'm tired Sasuke, long day at the clinic. I am going home to rest. Have fun with the team." She smiled as she turned to walk out. Sasuke's face broke into a small smile as he watched her walk out. She was still wearing one of her fishnet, and blue cut off shirt and black shorts underneath her little blue skirt. She was in incredible shape, even for being a Kunoichi, so he knew she was going to handle the pregnancy very well. Being so early in her pregnancy it was not noticeable quite yet. Her long blonde hair bounced as she left and Sasuke couldn't stop the smile from growing wider. His wife truly was a very beautiful woman.

Naruto and Kakashi noticed and gave each other knowing looks and grinned.

"Just trying to restore your clan, right Sasuke?" Naruto said, nudging him.

"No feelings involved, this is nothing more than an agreement that the blood line should not die out." Kakashi chimed in, with his normal laid back tone, mocking Sasuke as he finished another small cup full of sake. "It looks like Sasuke is going a little soft."

Sasuke turned toward the bar quickly and took another sip of his sake, muttering under his breath.

"Shut up you two. At least I am married. Kakashi is going to be forever single-" Kakashi twitch a little and grumbled as he poured himself some more sake with mild irritation.

"-and Naruto doesn't have the balls to propose to his woman." Naruto chugged the rest of his beer and stared a hole into the side of Sasuke's head.

"I've just been waiting for the right moment!" Naruto said in his own defense.

"What's the right moment Naruto? When she asks you herself. Or when you're Hokage? Either way it's going to be a while. You should just ask her."

Naruto shot up, surprising Kakashi and Sasuke as he exclaimed, "Well, maybe I will!"

They both watched in shock as Naruto bolted over to his girlfriend and proposed.

This was almost getting too much to handle for Kakashi.

The town was pairing off like it was spring, and he hadn't realized just how much it was starting to get to him until that moment. Even Asuma and Kurenai had finally stopped fooling themselves and became a couple. It was making him feel slightly ill with all the mush.

He didn't have room in his life for a relationship, but the sappiness oozing from all angles around him was starting to get to him. Maybe he was being a bitter drunk. He knew he wasn't good with relationships, and besides the occasional one night stand he tried to avoid romantic situations all together. It just got a little too complicated. The closest he ever got to a woman was Rin, and even though that never really went anywhere, after she died he swore off any serious relationships. He couldn't help to feel the pang of annoyance at the overly affectionate couples around him though. Those kinds of things should be going on behind close doors, where bitter men didn't have to see it and brood about it.

He glanced over to Sakura leaning against the bar. When she got the bartender's attention she massaged her temples and mumbled.

"Give me the strongest thing you have."

She seemed as irritated as he did, and she was sober. Maybe it wasn't just him being bitter.

I am posting them really fast so that they are up to date. So forgive the lack of author notes. :)


	4. Mornings Aren't Normally Like This

Sakura slowly became conscious that morning to the sight of the sunrise slowly creeping into her window.

Dear God her head hurt. No more drinking for her. Alcohol was the Devil, and it felt like someone had been clog dancing on her head all night.

Last night…

Sakura thought about it, trying to remember the details in full. She remembered ordering something that tasted like battery acid, but after three of those she was definitely on her way to needing to be carried home. She remembered being cheery and excited with the rest of the bar. Her sour mood seemed to fade the more she drank, and that was a bit of a bad realization. She could see how people became alcoholics.

She knew that she sang at least two karaoke songs, and she happily punched a guy for yelling 'Hello Nurse!' at her, she was only trying to playfully tap him and giggle all girly like. He ended up across the bar though. They soon realized that Sakura couldn't hold her liquor OR her strength. She remembered blurred images of the group walking home, singing some obnoxious drinking song, but nothing after that really.

Sakura closed her eyes tighter as she buried her face into her body pillow. This was so embarrassing; how was she going to face her team? They loved to nag her about the scarce few times she had drank and acted like a fool. She could only thank her stars that they were as drunk, if not worse off than she was.

She inhaled deeply, about to let out a calming breath when it caught in her throat. She was not snuggled up to her body pillow. The smell of spice and a smell that reminded her of the forest filled her lungs.

It was a body, minus the pillow part. She realized through her hung-over haze when she took a deep breath. It took a minute but her keen senses had finally been dropped kicked into functioning although her body was a bit resistant to wanting to move.

She was in bed with a guy. Shit.

Her moody thoughts had made her drunken subconscious kick into over drive, and her friends were too drunk to keep her from making a dumb decision.

Maybe if she slowly got up and snuck out… wait… they were at her house. That wouldn't work.

She decided to face the music and see who she had spent the night with the night before, she only prayed it hadn't been Chouji

She slowly pushed herself up, holding the sheet across her chest as she rose. Not only had she spent the night with a strange man, she was also naked.

She eyed the man in her bed, and the little inner Sakura was throwing her arms into the air and screaming, _'Score!'_

The man in her bed was also naked, but covered by the same sheet she was covering herself with. He was on his back and his head was turned to the side so she could only see the right side of his face. Her shadow gently cast it's self over his face as the sun slowly rose behind her.

He was quite handsome. Very handsome. Almost too handsome. Even with the shadow cast across him, she could tell he was very easy on the eyes.

Sakura started to feel relief wash over her. At least she had a hotty in her bed, she couldn't bare waking up and feeling the Coyote ugly story pertain to her.

She knew that she wasn't the hottest thing to grace the Konoha village, but she had standards. By the looks of it, or him rather, she had went beyond expectations. She just prayed that he wasn't an ass and that's why such a beautiful man found his way into her bed instead of a gorgeous woman's bed.

Just at that moment the man stirred and rolled over onto his stomach, bringing his arm up so he could lay his head on it.

That's Sakura started to notice some obvious things. One, the Anbu tattoo on his shoulder. She quirked her brow in a way that she was almost proud of her self for snagging an Anbu man. It wasn't till she stopped looking at the muscles on his back and raised her eyes to his face that she felt her insides clench.

The scar across his eye was unmistakable. How long had it been the only distinct thing she ever saw of his face. The silver hair, now in the sunlight seemed to shimmer every time he took a deep breath in his sleep. It was messy, of course, it was always messy. This morning it was more endearing than usual.

She had spent last night with Hatake Kakashi . This was the moment she should be freaking out, and she was a bit. She felt ready to bolt at any moment as if she was a mouse sneaking through a room of sleeping cats. She couldn't make her self get up and freak out just yet though.

Eight years of not knowing what was under the mask. Eight years of well played out schemes to get him to remove it and now she was gazing upon a completely bare faced, and bare everything else for that matter, Kakashi. It was almost like a deer in headlights. The shock and wonder of what was in front of her made her completely freeze. He was beautiful. She could only sit their and gawk at the peaceful, sleeping man. She had never seen him this unclothed before, which explained why she didn't recognize him at first. He really needed to take his shirt off more often if he looked like this under all that material.

Kakashi's eyes slowly drifted open and they gazed at each other for a good long moment. She couldn't help but be attracted to the way he lazily opened his eyes and gazed at her like a sleepy cat. He was more handsome than she had ever realized, those miss matched eyes of his gave a slightly more exotic look to him that made him that much more alluring. Each second that ticked by his eyes seemed to get wider and wider until it looked like he was having a stroke.

"S-…" She flushed as realization rushed into her brain at his failed attempt to say her name. This was Kakashi, one of her best friends, team leader, and former teacher. Oh God, what happened last night?

He seemed to have the same thoughts, but a more physical reaction as they flooded into his brain. He shot off the bed, clamped onto the sheet for dear life. Sakura gasped and grabbed the sheet also or she would be on display. The sudden tension in the sheet caused Kakashi to lose his footing and fall. This surprised her coming from Kakashi, one of the most graceful Shinobi in the village.

"Oof!" was the only thing he said as he landed on the floor with a loud thud. One leg was still on the bed as he quickly scrambled through the clothes on the floor looking for something to put on. He quickly found his pants and pulled them on before standing up and backing up to the wall, with another light thud when he reached it. He just stood there looking at the floor, his hand on his mouth as if he was surprised and thinking. He was more than likely self conscious about his full face being on display.

Sakura brought the sheet closer up to her chest as she stared at Kakashi. How were they going to get passed this? It was an accident; she wasn't planning on seducing him or anything. It just happened…

"Maybe… we didn't?" She squeaked out. Her voice was a little higher than she would have liked and there was pale dusting of pink still on her cheeks in embarrassment.

He looked at her with one eyebrow raised as if he couldn't believe she could doubt that they did. Apparently his memory was a little clearer than hers at the moment. His eyebrow rose and made him look even more attractive. Why hadn't she ever noticed that the upper half of his face was so good looking?

"What are we going to do?" She said quietly. His jaw clenched as if he was deep in though, and she couldn't help but to continue staring at him. He still hadn't put his mask on and it was more than a little distracting.

"I don't know. What do you want to do about it?" She jumped a little at his voice, her blush deepening as she caught her self staring again.

His voice was a little deeper than usual, more serious than his cool, laid back tone. The meaning of his words sank in as she continued to stare at him; he was making eye contact with her too. Kakashi was being more intense than usual. He seemed troubled and almost looked as if he was pleading with her.

"I don't want to lose our friendship… You are family to me Kakashi. I don't want one to many drinks to ruin that." She felt numb saying it. She knew she needed a good fling, but why did it have to be Kakashi?

His head dropped down to the floor as he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"This is to stay between us then?" He said as he raised his eyes back up to hers. She couldn't read him. Was he relieved or saddened by her choice?

"Between us." Sakura agreed quietly. Kakashi nodded and Sakura took this time to stand up and walk to him. She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "You know I can't hold my drink worth a flip." She laughed nervously, trying to clear the air. He smiled a little, showing the hint of a dimple in his cheek. This would be so much easier if he wasn't so handsome. Unexpectedly he leaned down and kissed her cheek gently.

"I'm sorry I was so careless Sakura." He said quietly as he leaned down and picked up his clothes. Picking his undershirt/mask combo up and sliding it over his head quickly.

When he straightened his mask, he turned and looked at her. It was like he was a different person. It was no longer the hot man who she slept with the night before, it was the normal everyday Kakashi she loved dearly and bitched at when he was late for Sunday dinners. Another wave of relief washed over her as he smiled at her through his mask. She could tell it was a true smile by his eyes.

"I will be back in a few hours with Naruto and Sasuke for breakfast." He said gently.

"You had better not be late like always." She said gently back. Another moment passed between them before he pushed her window open, letting a cool fall breeze into the room. With in seconds, he was gone.

Sakura knew things were going to be awkward for a while, but it was going to be ok. Or at least she hoped.


	5. Orange Juice and a Time Skip

Sakura sat at the table eating her breakfast as Naruto chatted animatedly to them all about Hinata and how they were going to break the news to her clan. She was just a little distracted as she picked at her food. Kakashi hadn't touched his food either she could see as he seemed to be focused on his Icha Icha book. He was probably a little more paranoid about removing his mask than usual. She couldn't help but want to rip the thing off his face.

"So Sakura," Sasuke said as Naruto stopped talking so he could scarf down seconds,"Ino told me that she wants you to deliver the baby."

Sakura looked up and blinked, snapping out of her deep thoughts about setting fire to the scrap of material on Kakashi's face.

"Y-Yes, she asked me last night." Sakura smiled when remembering her friend's request.

"That's what I thought got you girls so emotional." Naruto said as he swallowed his food. His face broke into a wide grin toward Sakura. "That's our Sakura, on top of things as usual."

Kakashi's uncovered eye twitched as he dropped his book in shock, and the thud was masked by Sakura's spluttering on her orange juice. Naruto jumped up and started patting Sakura's back as Kakashi quickly recovered, after wiping his face from the orange juice that had been spat on him, and sunk a little further behind his book.

"You ok?" Said Naruto; a little bit of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine." She rasped as she tried to clear her throat. "Just went down the wrong pipe."

"I have to say I couldn't think of anyone better to deliver my first born." Sakura jerked and stopped coughing as she stared at Sasuke. The normally emotionless man quirked his mouth in a slight smile. He had caught her off guard with the sudden comment. Naruto's hand slipped off her back for a second. He was also shocked by what Sasuke had said. That was probably one of the sweetest things Sasuke had ever said to her. She couldn't help but let her head drop a little as her eyes started to water a bit.

"Sasuke…" She sniffed a bit and felt Naruto's hand return, giving her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder. She looked at Kakashi too and saw that he was smiling gently through his mask; his eye seemed to be smiling at her too. She dropped her head again and smiled.

"Thank you…"

* * *

_**Three Weeks Later….**_

Sakura sat on the bridge with her team, waiting for a very late Kakashi. Naruto had just stopped pacing and leaned again the railing of the bridge, almost copying Sasuke's arms crossed stance with an annoyed expression.

She couldn't make herself get mad at Kakashi like the other two. Things seemed a little forced between them since that morning only a few weeks before. Every time he was around they were being a little more polite than usual, and if he said or did something that warranted her wrath, suddenly his face with out the mask would flash in her mind. The dulled any anger that was boiling up inside of her. It was almost like seeing his face affected her more than the knowledge of sleeping with him. Almost.

Much to her annoyance, or at least that was what she was trying to convince her self it was, the memories of a very long night filled with passion continued to surface in her head. The more time passed, the more she started to remember. It almost always happened with Kakashi around.

Things were finally starting to settle and return to normal though. Other than the slight awkwardness when they were alone; and the other two men being surprised when she wasn't as hell bent as them anymore to come up with a scheme to see his face. She tried to play it off as her just wanting to finally respect his privacy. They only laughed and thought she was joking. This made her grumble and pout a little. She really wasn't THAT nosey.

Naruto made a loud disapproving noise as he began pacing again.

"We need to start telling him to meet us about two hours before we actually are going to meet."

"I went and found him last time." Sasuke said with his normal 'Sasuke-like' tone, as if he knew what was coming. Naruto quickly threw his hand in the air and yelped in response to Sasuke.

"Not it!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You could have just asked for me to go get him instead of acting like two year olds about it." She said, but playfully swatted at the two of them. "What am I going to do with you two?" She said as if she was exasperated, but a small smile was playing on her lips. She turned and walked off the bridge. She knew the first place she was going to check, it was almost a sure thing he was going to be there.

* * *

Kakashi sighed and stared down at the stone. Ever since he moved into the Uchiha complex he hadn't realize just much of a rarity his visits to the memorial stone had become. Now it was only before missions that he visited the stone. He lingered longer than usual today though. He knew his fallen friends would want him to be happy, but how truly happy he had become he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Sakura's face flashed in his mind. Those jade green eyes of her staring down at him with interest when he woke up that morning weeks ago. The sun was rising behind her, lighting up her silhouette and her hair looked like pink fire. She was beyond beautiful. The image of her wrapped up in her white sheet, outline glowing with the morning sun, her pale skin glowing healthy in the light. Her cheeks a little pink with embarrassment…

Kakashi quickly shook his head and closed his eyes. They could never be more than friends. Yes he would admit that she was beautiful and that they were intimate that night. They were both drunk though. Things like that happen.

When she said that she didn't want anything to happen to their friendship that morning, he was torn between relief and disappointment.

They were only friends though, he only saw her as a friend, he didn't need to be disappointed that it wasn't going to change into something more.

He knew her too long to see her in any other light but platonic. She was what held their little mismatched family together. He could never have feelings for her other than friendship and risk destroying that. The fact that he was jaded and older really wouldn't be good for a younger woman either. She had a great future ahead of her; she didn't need him taking that away from her.

He let his head drop as he took another deep breath. Here of late his visits to the stone became reasoning with himself what happened that night. Things were starting to drop back into their normal stride with the group. It was getting less awkward being around Sakura alone. Things would go back to normal and all would be well. They would just forget what happened and it would never be brought back up.

"Kakashi?" Kakashi's eyes widened as he nearly choked. He turned quickly to see Sakura smiling at him. He coughed a bit and tried to return the smile nervously.

"Hello, Sakura."

"We need to talk." She said bluntly as she crossed her arms across her chest. Kakashi looked at her wearily. "You need to start being on time for missions, or I'm going to make you boiled eggplant for dinner for the next month." Kakashi let out the breath he had been holding and smiled again underneath his mask, this time it reached his eyes.

"You know me Sakura-chan, I always lose track of time." Sakura smiled even brighter and poked him in the ribs. He chuckled and took the punishment.

"We should get going, we are already late. Naruto looked like he was about to have a nervous break down before I left." She said as she placed a hand on his elbow, leading him gently away from the stone. He turned to glance back at the stone and smiled. Everything was going to be ok.

… He hoped.


	6. Watch out for random Kunai!

Sakura balled her hand into a fist and charged forward. The five Shinobi in front of her just smirked at her and braced them selves as she charged. She smiled and instead of hitting them her self, she stopped short and slammed her fist into the ground causing it to completely crumble underneath them. She pushed herself backwards quickly as an army of Naruto shadow clones ran past her into the pit she had created, beating the Shinobi opposing them to a pulp. She turned to see Kakashi and Sasuke going toe to toe with the four more, much stronger than the five she charged. She glanced back to see Naruto handling the other five so she ran into battle with Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Kakashi! Duck!" she yelled from midair, and he instinctively dropped to his hands and knees as she flew passed him and landed a well placed chakra enhanced kick to the throat of one of the men he was fighting. This sent the man flying backward and crashing into a tree.

"Sasuke!" she yelled as she tossed him more kunai to refill his depleted supply. She stood up behind Kakashi, her hand glowing green to heal the oozing cut on his shoulder, keeping in pace with his movements as he fought.

"Sakura!" She dropped and he flipped over her as she lunged forward, punching the Shinobi's knee backwards with a sickening snap. She shot up, punching him in the jaw, knocking him through the air. She then jumped up and axe kicked him straight into the ground hard. When she was convinced he wasn't getting back up she turned to see Kakashi had already turned his attention to the other opponent Sasuke was fighting.

"Break!" Naruto yelled and the two dropped back as Naruto's small army of clones took over. Sasuke and Kakashi dropped back to Sakura for medical attention. She worked on Sasuke's hands first that were covered in nicks and slices, covering his hand wraps in blood. Her concentration focused completely on the task at hand. The sound of metal caused her to look up just in time to see a hand shoot out to cover her face. Blood splattered across her face as the hand that shot out to block was punctured by four kunai.

Kakashi winced and muffled a yell as he kept his arm in place as a shield. Sakura finished with Sasuke and he returned to the fight as she immediately grabbed Kakashi.

"Oh my God Kakashi, why did you do that?!" She scolded him. She began to heal his arm as she pulled the kunai out causing him to wince in pain again as he tried to chuckle quietly.

"Instinct? You are our medic after all." She looked up at his mismatched eyes in disapproval as she pulled the last kunai out and began the healing process.

The day had been very long; she had been healing nonstop ever since they were ambushed by about thirty Shinobi. She sighed in annoyance at the thought. It was only supposed to be an escort mission. The mission went well, but the opposing village to the one they were hired by was angry that they used their territory get through safely. They decided to make an example of them, but what the village hadn't known was who exactly they were dealing with. They all, with the exception of Kakashi, had yet to make it into the Bingo books.

It had taken two hours, but they had gotten through the ambush with Sakura as their human generator. She didn't want to admit it to her team, but she was almost to her limit and damn exhausted.

Kakashi flexed his hand; it felt as good as new. He looked at Sakura and noticed the crease of exhaustion under her eyes.

"Sakura…" She shook her head and stood up quickly.

"I know what you are going to say, I'm fine. Let's finish up and get home." She extended her hand to him and smiled.

Kakashi knitted his brow together and eyed her suspiciously. That smile again. It was the one that she put on her face when she was trying to change the subject or throw some one off what they were originally thinking. He accepted her hand anyway after pulling his forehead protector back down over his Sharingan and stood up. The other two men were just kicking one of the almost unconscious Shinobi in aggravation and yelling at the man about throwing the kunai at Sakura.

Sakura's vision blurred slightly as she tripped and stumbled. A hand sharply grabbed her arm as she almost fell over.

"Sakura." Sakura snapped out of her haze and looked up to see Kakashi looking down at her, his expression was blank except for one visible narrowed eyebrow. That was his, 'Don't argue,' face.

She turned to see Naruto and Sasuke were right by her side too, trying to steady her.

"I'm fine, let's get walking before they send more..." She said as she tried to walk again, this time collapsing, only for all three of them to catch her. If she wasn't so tired she would have laughed at how silly it looked to see three grown men diving to catch one woman.

"You used too much chakra." Kakashi said flatly.

"I've used too much before and walked home…" Before Sakura could argue too much more, Kakashi scooped her up from the other two's grasp and started walking down the path toward Konoha. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other as Kakashi walked ahead of them. Sly smiles broke out across their face as they continued to follow their team leader.

Sakura didn't argue this time when he picked her up, she knew she was exhausted and needed to rest unless she wanted to be asleep for the next two days. She couldn't use the over used Sharingan excuse to go into a coma like Kakashi could.

Not only did she fight though, she was also healing them through almost the entire fight. She thought she deserved to get a little bit of special treatment just this once. With this in mind, her head slowly drifted against his chest and she faded until she was asleep.

Kakashi kept his head straight forward as he continued walking. She was asleep. She trusted him so much to just curl up and sleep in his arms. His subconscious cooing at the fact that he liked holding her was not helping the fact that he was trying to convince himself what he felt for her was just platonic. He looked down at her face; it had splatters of his blood across it. It was eerie how peaceful she looked though she looked like she got through a war. Her warmth, her body snuggled up against his chest, the fact that he knew from the night they spent together weeks ago that her hair felt as soft as it looked…

He was staring.

Kakashi quickly looked forward again and cleared his throat. If the other two had witnessed him staring, they didn't admit it. Except for the smirks on their faces, of course.

"I was making sure she was asleep." He voice was bland, void of any emotion. The other two knew better though.

"Sure Kakashi, just like it had to be you to carry her." Kakashi's eyes narrowed at Naruto's comment.

"Just making sure she's asleep though, right Naruto?" Sasuke said to Naruto and they both snickered. Kakashi grumbled under his breath.

"Knock it off you two."

"If I get really tired will you carry me home too Kakashi?" Naruto said in a girly voice, causing the two men to erupt into loud cackles. He knew the other two would carry her with no questions asked. They adored her and worried for her safety as if she was their little sister. Kakashi looked down at Sakura again, the title little sister didn't feel right to him though.

His thoughts were interrupted again by more snickering from Naruto and Sasuke.

They were behind him making more wise cracks about Kakashi and Sakura's current situation.

This was going to be a long trip home.


	7. Blood, Rain, and Tears In that order!

A little wobbly, but surely, Sakura walked passed the front gates of Konoha. She felt much better, still a little weak, but much better. It was interesting waking up next to Kakashi again. A little different than last time, she thought with a slight pink hue to her cheeks. She opened her eyes to see him looking straight forward, as if marching with determination. She couldn't stop the thought of wishing he would take off his mask again. She remembered his face in detail, but it was still a very nice face to look at.

He noticed she was awake and smiled down at her. That's when she remembered he had dimples under there somewhere. At that point she knew she needed to walk on her own before she drove herself crazy with thoughts of Kakashi.

So here she was, trying to march with confidence into the gates of Konoha. She didn't want them to see her as the weakest link anymore. Not how she was when she was younger. She wanted to be an equal, and an equal didn't need to be carried home by their team leader after a fight.

"Haruno-san!" Sakura blinked and turned to see one of the interns of the emergency clinic sprinting up to her. "We have an emergency, Team Asuma just arrived and-" Ino's team. Her heart clenched as she could feel Sasuke freeze beside her too. Wasn't Ino on leave to only work in the clinic till after the baby was born? Sasuke answered that question when he immediately began to sprint toward the clinic.

"She said she wanted to do one more mission before going on leave, she promised she would be fine! She is such a stupid woman! I shouldn't have listened to her!" Sasuke seemed to be yelling more at himself than at anyone else. Sakura quickly forgot her fatigue as she sprinted next to Sasuke, nearly blowing the doors off the hinges of the clinic as they ran in.

"Which room!?" The intern at the desk squeaked out," Fourteen," as Sasuke and Sakura yelled the demand in unison. Time seemed to slow down as they ran down the hall; nurses with bloody gloves were running out of the room that seemed to be in chaos. "Ino…" Sasuke froze outside of the door, unable to go in. Sakura busted passed him to see Ino covered in blood… standing over the bloody body of Asuma. Ino's eyes were filled with tears as she tried to heal him. She was shaking with exhaustion and she seemed focused only on Asuma.

"Ino, let me take over!" Sakura rolled up her sleeves with out hesitation and began to frantically work on Asuma. He had been run through the chest by several blades, which she could see were already removed by Ino. In Ino's panic she hadn't been able to heal him properly as she removed them so he was bleeding internally. The room seemed to glow a vibrant green as she forced as much chakra as she could into Asuma, his heart beat was faint, but it was still beating. She knew she still had a chance because Ino had kept him alive.

"Don't die Asuma…don't die…" Sakura's determined face didn't falter, even when he gasped and coughed up blood. A good sign that he was fighting.

Ino stood off to the side, her front covered in blood as she mumbled through sobs.

"He knows I'm pregnant, he threw himself in front of the blow, he protected me and now he's-"

"Don't you dare say that, Ino!" Sakura yelled in anger, not even looking away from her patient. "Go let Sasuke know you are alright. He is worried sick…" She tried to soften her voice to Ino, she knew just how angry she sounded but only because how hard she was concentrating. Ino was a wreck, this was a man she loved as dearly as if he were family and she had managed to keep him alive this long. Sakura would do her best to save his life. For his sake and Ino's.

* * *

Kakashi and Naruto ran up behind Sasuke, just as the operating room doors opened, and a very distraught Ino exited. Before she could get a word out Sasuke nearly knocked her off her feet. He picked her up and hugged her so tight she could only accept it in complete shock.

"I thought…" Ino hugged him back and began sobbing again.

"Asuma saved me. If it wasn't for him…"

Kakashi walked up to the operating room to see Sakura lighting up the room with her medical jutsu as interns scrambled around her trying to do everything she said. Her eyes looked dangerously focused, and the last time he saw that look was when her parents were…

The last time he saw that look was when she was trying to save her parents.

She hadn't shed a tear until Tsunade shook her and forced her to stop. Telling her that they had passed. They were too badly burned to bring back. That if she continued pumping her chakra into their hollow shells she would die along with them.

That's the last time he saw her face look that dangerously focused. As if she was going to pour her life into theirs to make sure they survived. He had been the one to carry her home that night, the one who comforted her and stayed with her all night. That's the night she stopped calling him Kakashi-sensei. The night he began to truly treat her as an equal.

He could only stand in awe of the woman, knowing that Asuma would make it. He would make it even if it truly looked grim for him.

* * *

They sat in the waiting room for hours. It was dark outside, and the dull sound of thunder seemed to fit their moods. Ino had already fallen asleep against Sasuke's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her as she curled up closer to him. If the air wasn't so thick with anticipation and worry it would have been the perfect time to nag him about his supposed self proclaimed lack of feelings for Ino. It was most definitely not the time though. Hinata was there too, she had brought food for everyone and ramen for Naruto. They all couldn't touch it though. Naruto just sat there, clinging to Hinata's hand in silence. This was the kind of night that reminded you to tell the one you loved just how much you loved them.

Kakashi could only pat Kurenai's back; her sobbing had eased hours before, now she only stared intensely at the operating doors.

The silence broke as Sakura slowly pushed the doors open. She looked about to fall over as she slowly made her way to the waiting area.

"He is going to be fine… he just needs to rest for a while. Kurenai, you can see him; he is being transferred to the recovery wing." Sakura said quietly, a tired smile gracing her lips. Kurenai stood up and nearly picked Sakura up in a hug.

"Sakura-san…" That was all she could say as she slipped passed her, almost jogging to see Asuma.

"You all go home; Ino nearly used all the chakra she had to keep him alive. Take her home Sasuke; she can see him in the morning. You two go home also." She looked sternly at Naruto and Hinata. "We can all visit in the morning."

They nodded, and began to slowly get up, still staring at her in amazement. Sakura had really become a powerful Kunoichi in more ways than one.

As she slowly shuffled the group out of the clinic, she turned to see Kakashi standing in the middle of the waiting room. He stared at her and she stared tiredly back.

"I want to go home, care to join me on the walk back?" Kakashi smiled and slowly walked to her side.

"Was planning on it whether you wanted me to or not." Sakura smiled at his comment as they began to walk out into the cool night. A slight drizzle was already coming down, but she didn't mind. She welcomed it. It woke her up, and seeing she had been in a stuffy operating room for hours after a very long trip, she almost needed it.

They both made their way slowly down the street in a slightly uncomfortable silence. They knew what was coming, and Kakashi was readying himself for it.

She stopped as her hands slowly made their way to her face. A sob broke the silence just as sky opened and began to pour.

She didn't even try to move as the rain soaked her to the bone. Kakashi didn't run for cover either as he reached over and gripped the back of her head, pulling her into a his chest for comforting hug. She knew why he was trying to comfort her. He knew why she was crying.

"I could feel their pulse. They were borderline. I just didn't have anything else to give. They died because I wasn't strong enough. It was my fault." She sobbed into his chest. Kakashi pulled her to him tighter and his eyes closed.

"Sakura, it wasn't your fault. You tried so hard, but it was their fate to pass on then together."

"I don't want to feel like this every night something like this happens. Knowing I was strong enough to save this person, but not my own parents…" Kakashi pushed her back slightly and cupped her face with his now wet gloved hand.

"You were very strong tonight, they would be damn proud of you. Just like we all are." She closed her eyes as more tears ran down her face, mixing with the streams of rain. "Your parents died knowing the fact you gave your all for them. They knew how much you loved them."

Sakura's eyes opened slowly to see Kakashi staring at her so intently. He always knew what to say to calm her from her crying fits after nights like this one. He was always there for her, only saying things like this to her. He was only open like this for her. He was her best friend. Things seemed to blur around her as she lost her balance, slumping against him.

"I'm so tired…" Kakashi smiled and scooped her up in his arms for the second time that day and began to walking home again.

"You depleted you chakra again while working on Asuma. You need rest." He was explaining to deaf ears, she had already fallen asleep in his arms. She began shivering from the cold and with out thinking about it he squatted, propping her in his lap as he shrugged off his vest to wrap it around her. He hoisted her up and began walking again.


	8. Calendars can't lie Like a paper Monk

Sakura woke up that morning with a pounding head ache and a stomach that was rebelling. She sat up slowly, holding her head. When she opened her eyes, a steaming cup of tea was right in front of her nose.

"Dear God!" She screeched jumping back in bed a bit. She followed the arm connected to the tea to see there was a Kakashi attached to it. He wasn't fazed in the least by her outburst.

Noticing she was only in her chest bindings and panties Sakura turned bright red and pulled the covers closer to her chest. She accepted the tea quietly and politely. She would wait till she got her embarrassment under control before she asked why he was in her house. She was used to the other two crashing after using her house as a mini emergency room from training injuries, but it was a first for Kakashi to be in her house so early with out a demand that he be there. Well other than that morning…

Sakura's cheeks turned pink as she took a big gulp of her tea, wincing as it burned her mouth. At least it took her mind off the thought of a naked Kakashi.

"I brought you home last night, and the storm worsened so I used in the spare room." Kakashi said nonchalantly, as if reading her mind.

"Oh…" She said quietly. She really wasn't feeling well, and the tea wasn't helping like it normally did. That could be because she was scolding herself with it instead of sipping it slowly.

Unconsciously she brought her hand to her head feeling for a fever. Kakashi's brow quirked at this, his interest in what she was doing.

"You alright Sakura-chan?"

"I think I might have caught a cold from the rain last night and running my self down twice in one day." She said quietly, not making eye contact with him.

He had stripped her out of her clothes the night before to keep her from catching cold and soaking her bed all the way through. He was a gentleman about it and kept his eyes diverted as much as possible; even if he had seen most of it before. He wasn't going to bring it up unless she did though.

"Thank you…" Kakashi looked up to see Sakura smiling at him. The smile that always caught him off guard.

"What for?" He said as he falsely busied himself with a string on his vest.

"You are always the one who stays behind and comforts me when I have a melt down about my parents. You were the one who was there for me the night it happened. It was four years ago, and I know I don't do it as often as I used to. It's still nice to know you are there for me when I get a little hysterical."

He did his famous eye crease that meant he was smiling at her and she smiled back. He patted her shoulder and stood up quickly as if trying to change the subject. "I am going to check in with Tsunade. Maybe check on Asuma afterward, if you are feeling up to it maybe-"

"I am going to check on him today, yes. I am picky about my patients. I just need to soak in an herbal bath and take some supplements and I will be just fine. I tend to recover quicker than most people." She said cheerfully, even through how cruddy she felt. Kakashi nodded and walked slowly to the door. He paused, his hand lingering on the door knob.

"Sakura?..." She looked up again, a little confused at his pause. He mentally collected himself and looked at her sideways with his uncovered natural eye. "I will always be there for you, remember that." His eye creased in one of his normal Kakashi smiles again, and her heart warmed.

"I know… Thank you." With that he took his leave.

* * *

Sakura lay in her bath tub staring at random things in her bathroom. The soak in the tub caused the waves of nausea to pass, and now she felt so much better. Her nose was a little stuffy too, but the hot steam from the bath helped ease her aches and pains from the mission that lasted for a week and what felt like an oncoming cold. She used this time to slowly eye around her bathroom at things she needed to take care of.

She needed to get more toilet paper… and a new tooth brush. Her hair brush had seen better days. She really needed to clean her mirror… and put lines through her calendar for the week she was away for the mission…

Sakura's eyes counted the days from the last time she checked her calendar. They left on Saturday morning, exactly a week ago. She remembered this because she had to pay for dinner the next day to uphold tradition. Her eyes went to the Saturday exactly a week before and she slipped further into the tub, causing the water to slosh over the sides. Forgetting her slight nausea, she sprung out of the tub and ripped the calendar off the wall.

"No…Oh my God, No!" Her eyes could have burned a hole through the Saturday the fifteenth.

It just seemed to mock her with the writing she had put there only weeks before. She always had it well calculated. She could set her watch by it, she was NEVER late. EVER.

Even with stressful missions, or coming of age, and changing of her diet.

Her period was never late.

Though now she was officially a week late.

With out a second thought, she grabbed a large black jacket and wrapped it around herself like a dress. She slipped on her sandals, before making a wobbly attempt to sprint out the door. She had to get to Ino's house.

* * *

A miserable Tsunade sat at her desk. Rainey days were so damned boring. She would kill for a bottle of sake and a nap right then. The only entertainment she had was a Kakashi standing in the middle of her office reading one of his many Icha Icha books. This wasn't really entertaining at all.

"How is Sakura, Kakashi? I heard what happened last night. I would visit her myself, but…" She didn't have to finish as Shizune walked in with a stack of paperwork. Tsunade's eyes narrowed at the stack grumpily.

"She seems to have a bit of a cold from over exertion. Other than that, she is well. You know Sakura." Kakashi said cheerily as he looked back down at his book.

"Yes, I know Sakura. She is feeling worse than she is letting on, you no better than to believe her when she says she's fine." Before he could even ask, Tsunade was holding up a little baggy or herbs for him to take to Sakura. He took it immediately and put it in his vest before closing his book and putting in his vest also.

"If your team hadn't been back when you were I'm afraid we would have lost Asuma." Tsunade sighed and rested her chin on her intertwined fingers. "When I started training that girl I knew she would be strong, but she has really gone above and beyond. I have to admit I care for her as if she was more than my apprentice, she is like a daughter to me."

"I know Hokage-sama." He nodded at her statement, but noticed her giving him a knowing eye.

"If anything or anyone were to hurt her-"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Hokage-sama, but I am a little protective my team mates also." He said a little quicker than he realized and Tsunade only smirked at him.

"Team mate, huh?"

"Team mate and friend."

"Team mate, friend and-"

"I am on my way to the clinic Hokage-sama, is their any mission scrolls you need me to pick up while I am here?" Kakashi said followed by a slight grunt of annoyance. Tsunade chuckled and waved her hand.

"Take the day off to let your medic recover. I have a long mission planned for you guys in the next couple of days. A long rest before it will be good for all of you. "

* * *

"I'm sorry Sakura, it's not everyday your best friend comes running over like a maniac in nothing but sandals and a coat." Ino laughed, over cheery that morning. This was more than likely due to the realization that her former sensei and good friend was alive and well. She smiled sweetly at Sakura and let her in. If Sakura was going to ask a favor, today was the day to do it seeing that she walked on water in Ino's eyes for saving Asuma.

Sakura sighed; there was no other way to say what she needed to say. No other excuse she could give to get what she needed quickly.

"I know you kept extra pregnancy tests around when you were trying with Sasuke-" Ino did a double take at this,"-I need to use one… now." Sakura tried to keep from shaking as Ino stared at her in awe. "I will explain; can we just hurry to ease my mind?" Ino stared at her for another few seconds before she grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her upstairs to her room. She left her standing there as she hurried into her bathroom and walked back with a little pink box.

"You know the drill from the hospital. Two pink lines equal yes, one equals no. You had better clue me in after you set it up. It gives us three minutes for you to spill your guts." Ino patted her back as Sakura quickly stepped into the bathroom. Pushing her door shut and began fumbling with the packaging. She stuffed the pink box into her coat pocket as she began to fiddle with the actual test itself. Her hands giving away her nervousness as they shook uncontrollably.


	9. Two Pink Lines

Kakashi walked down the street, noticing from the overcast weather the street wasn't as busy as normal.

He had to admit that he was anxious to check up on his friend. He wanted to join Kurenai the night before to see him after that whole ordeal, but at that moment his urge to be there for Sakura was stronger.

Sakura was currently an odd subject for him. He thought he just wanted to just keep things the way they had always been, and if his subconscious would leave him be then he could eventually forget about the whole one night stand subject and pass it off like the mistake they had agreed it was that morning.

Part of him wouldn't leave it be though. It was like something that had been buried for a long time surfaced that morning when he realized who he slept with. He knew nothing could come of it. He didn't deserve Sakura, and she didn't deserve to be held back by him. She would eventually find some one that fit the standards of her overly protective group and get married, have a few kids and continue on to be one of the most powerful medical ninjas the village had ever produced. She was destined to be a great asset to the village, not be held back with a partner that constantly over stepped his chakra boundaries so he had to be hospitalized and babied by her. This was already the case, minus the relationship part. He would protect her and continue to be her team leader, that's all he could be to her.

No matter how much he tried to laugh at himself for having those thoughts, it didn't seem all that funny. He should be crazy for even thinking of Sakura in that way, but some how the thoughts always seem to drift back to the surface. The night before he couldn't hold back the words flowing from his mouth. He would have given anything to ease her pain, and it almost scared him. He could have gone home after tucking her in, but he couldn't leave her side all night. He didn't even touch the spare bedroom; he just slept in the chair by the bed. He

He really needed to knock it off. This was not helping his case.

He looked up and noticed he was standing in front of the clinic. Maybe a nice visit with Asuma would clear his head.

Asuma wouldn't be alive with out Sakura. The words that Tsunade had said floated in his head.

…Damn it.

* * *

Sakura sat on the bathroom floor with Ino, across from the counter where the pregnancy test was still in the process of deciding it's answer. She was wearing a bright green knee length dress with a pair of knee high black sandals that were hers that some how migrated their way to the Uchiha household. She hadn't realized just how much more comfortable some under garments, clothes and shoes would make her feel. A little cooking timer ticked away in her hands. It seemed to be in perfect beat with her heart thundering in her ears. She felt slightly numb as both of the women stared blankly at the bathroom floor.

All they had to do now was wait. Waiting three minutes was like eternity for her.

"What are going to do if it's positive?" Ino said quietly. Sakura shook her head slowly.

"I don't know…"

"I have to admit, I am a bit proud of you for finally getting Kakashi into bed." Sakura choked at Ino's announcement. Ino just smiled mischievously. "How does he look under all that material?"

Sakura was silent for a long while before smiling up at Ino.

"He is even more handsome than I could explain." Ino smiled and leaned against Sakura out of comfort.

"Sasuke gets this goofy grin when he looks at me when we're alone. I never thought he would ever smile at me like that, but I think it took marrying him for me to realize just how much I loved him." Ino smiled sweetly as she continued. "What is your favorite thing about Kakashi?"

Sakura blinked at Ino, Ino continued to smile, as if urging her to be completely truthful.

"I've never really thought of Kakashi in any other way except as a friend… well… until recently." Ino's smile widen as she giggled quietly.

"Recently? Tsunade and I have noticed how you two have acted around each other for almost two years now."

"What?!" Sakura guffawed.

"You two always seemed to get closer through it all. After Sasuke and Naruto left, I think you two needed each other to keep the team together. I told Tsunade that after the team was whole again, that need to hang onto something might have grown into something more." Sakura stared at Ino as she turned to stare across the room again. "I think you two haven't noticed it, but you two have been inseparable since Sasuke came back. You two just know what the other one is thinking. Something is there on Kakashi's side too. I've seen the way he looks at you when you don't notice. That night when Sasuke brought me over for dinner is when I first realized something was going on. He looked like he was reading that little perverted book of his, but the entire time he was watching you cook. Or when he visits the clinic when you're working, he always watches you." Sakura couldn't stop the slight pink blush from creeping across her cheeks

"He is just my friend…"

"Is that all you feel for him?" Sakura turned her face away from Ino and fiddled with the timer again. How did she feel for Kakashi? Ever since that one morning she couldn't stop thinking about him. He had always been there. Through the toughest times in her life he was the person who always seemed to make things feel normal again.

"I think… I feel more than friendship toward him…"

"Me getting pregnant I think is what made Sasuke realize just how much he really cares about me. The day I told him he acted weird all day, but every day since then it's like he finally is trying to show me that this isn't just about rebuilding his clan. He even tried to hold my hand when we were watching TV the other day. Surprised the hell out of me, but it made me realize he really cares for me. Maybe if it's positive, Kakashi might-" The timer went off in Sakura's hands, causing both the women to jump and for Sakura to drop the timer onto the floor. They looked at each other for a very long time before Ino stood up.

"What will you do if it's negative? Will you tell him how you really feel?" Ino's back after a question like that was the most intimidating thing Sakura had ever seen. "You know he is going to have to know eventually. If it's positive, it's going to be sooner rather than later." Ino picked up the pregnancy test and didn't look down to see the results, but turned to Sakura instead. "Are you going to tell him either way?"

"…Yes." Sakura said quietly before standing up herself. Ino raised the test up to look at the results. She didn't blink or show any type of reaction as she held it out to Sakura, who was almost afraid to take it from the other woman.

"It's positive Sakura…" Ino said softly, as if speaking any louder would break Sakura. Sakura's heart seemed to stop. She had been staring down at the two pink lines right as Ino made the statement. Unconsciously she grabbed Ino's shoulder, as if catching herself before falling over.

"I-I'm pregnant?..."

What was she going to do? Could she be a mother? What would Kakashi say? Would he freak out? Would he even want it?

Did she want it?

Sakura stared blankly at the bathroom floor. Did she want this?

Sakura knew that night she had been envious of Ino and her good news, but Ino was in a situation that a baby would be comfortable. It wouldn't be fair to a baby to be brought into her current situation.

What was wrong with her situation though? She had people who were her family all around her. The baby would have two strong uncles in Naruto and Sasuke, a loving aunt in Ino, a kick ass grandma in Tsunade and-…

A wonderful father in Kakashi…

Kakashi was going to be a father.

Sakura unconsciously touched her stomach at that thought. She could feel something snap inside her mind.

She really did care for Kakashi more than she had realized. Sakura sank to her knees, as Ino followed suit.

"Sakura?... Are you ok?"

"I-…I don't know what to do."

"You need to tell him Sakura." Ino's voice was still sweet, but stern and motherly at the same time.

"Don't tell anyone yet… not until I tell him…" Ino looked down at her friend's frantic face and smiled reassuringly.

"I will not say a word until you do." Sakura dropped her head to Ino's shoulder and sniffled, trying to say thank you, but it just came out in a mumbled sobbing mess. Ino hugged Sakura and rubbed her back, trying to sooth her friend.

"It's going to be fine."

* * *

Asuma lay in bed, one of his hands clasped in Kurenai's tightly. Kakashi stood, leaning against the wall across from the bed.

"So… close call, eh?" Kakashi said in his usual lazy tone. Kurenai shot him a dirty look as Asuma couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Yeah, I saw Ino being attacked and I couldn't stop myself. If that girl had lost that baby of hers, I don't think she would have recovered. She deserves the life she finally achieved. I wasn't about to let some asshole take that away from her." Kurenai smiled at him and squeezed his hand tighter as he grinned at her.

"Though I agree that was very valiant of you, and I'm also glad you're alive, but could you two not be so…you know." He waved his gloved hand slightly, as if they were supposed to finish his sentence.

"Does it bother you Kakashi?" Kurenai said as she started making smooching sounds toward Asuma, causing Asuma to start chuckling again. Kakashi just raised an eyebrow and pulled his Icha Icha, acting as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Oh come on Kakashi! We were kidding. If it weren't for Sakura-san-, " Kakashi lowered his book at this comment,"-Asuma would have died. Ino's chakra was almost gone when you guys arrived. She didn't have anything left to finish the job."

"That is some woman you got there Kakashi." Asuma said, wiggling his eyes brows slightly. Kakashi lost grip of his book and spent a few seconds trying to catch it, before snatching it from the air and stuffing it into his vest.

"Sakura is a fine medic, yes." Kakashi said, clearing his throat. Kurenai smiled and gave Asuma's hand another soft before making for the door.

"I will let you two visit; I am going to get some coffee." She patted Kakashi's shoulder on the way out. Kakashi narrowed his eyes on Asuma as she exited the room.

"A little too convenient that she was leaving when I'm here, Asuma." Asuma smiled innocently and put his hands up in defense.

"The woman put me up to it."

"To what?"

"You know how they get, they get curious and they drive us men insane until we find out for them because they can't ask themselves because-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you with Sakura?"

"WHAT?!" Asuma jumped in his hospital bed, causing him to wince slightly because his still tender wounds. That was the most reaction that he had ever seen from the stoic man. Ever. Before he could continue the door opened, and a white lab coat clad Sakura entered making a beeline to Asuma.

"Asuma-san? What are you doing sitting up?!" She pulled her hair back into a pony tail before pushed him down gently and began surveying his almost healed wounds.

"Oh, sorry Sakura-san-" He said, eyeing a fuming Kakashi in the corner."-I was just having an interesting conversation with Kakashi."

"What was it about?" She said, almost not interested in what they were talking about, more interested in her exam of Asuma's wounds.

"It was actually about you, Sakura-san." Asuma said, his face looking slightly mischievous. Kakashi's brow forked and his shoulders tensed slightly, as if ready to pummel the already injured man. Sakura stopped the exam and straightened up to look at Kakashi.

"What were you two talking about me for?" Before anything else could be said Kakashi stepped forward and ushered her and him self out of the room, speaking over Asuma.

"Just how Tsunade gave us the day off because you work too hard and that I have to supplemental herbs to help with your cold." He said, nearly all rushed together, giving Asuma a look that if he wasn't wearing a mask he would be sticking out his tongue.

"Oh! Oh! Kakashi! I saw that look!" Asuma called after him as he shut the door.

"What look?" Ino, was standing right in front of the two, looking curiously up at the older man. A smile threatened to grace her face as she seemed to be surveying him. Kakashi suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable as he urged Sakura to keep on moving.

"Uh… no look, he is still a bit off from sleeping in the hospital." He said as he made his way around Ino.

"Sakura?" The two stopped as Sakura turned to look at Ino.

"You coming over later?" Sakura smiled softly and nodded.

"Yes." She said with a gentle wave to her friend. "What did Tsunade give you to give me again Kakashi?" A little thrown off by the women's verbal exchange, he snapped his attention back to Sakura.

"Herbs for your tea… supposed to help your cold."

"Alright, I'll meet you outside, just need to drop by the front office. Walk me home?" She said sweetly, and he just nodded dumbly as she shrugged off her lab coat.

She was wearing a simple green dress that matched the color of her eyes uncannily. He tore his eyes away as he made for the door. That was it. He needed to separate himself from being around her so much. It was getting harder not to stare at her. She was too young and had too much going for her to be troubled with the fact that a man like him was leering at her.

Ok, so he wasn't leering. He admitted she was beautiful, but he enjoyed watching her carry out her everyday duties. She had a fire in her that it so she could butter toast ardently. So maybe he was leering. He really needed to put those thoughts to rest. People were beginning to suspect the impossible.

Kakashi could never be that way with Sakura. It would be unfair to her. He couldn't fully commit to anyone really. He couldn't risk hurting Sakura. She meant too much to him. He would rather deal with those feelings from a friendly distance.

Kakashi reach over and picked up his scarf from the coat rack and noticed her coat was hanging up too. He picked it up for her too and stepped outside, slipping the packet of herbs into her pocket. Just as he stepped outside he was bumped by a group of interns, obviously late, running into the clinic causing him to drop her coat.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei!" One of the boys called as he ran into the clinic. Kakashi lazily blinked at the group as they disappeared into the clinic.

Kids. Kakashi sighed.

He wrapped the scarf around his neck and leaned down to pick up the jacket when a pink box dropped out of the pocket. He curiously bent down to pick up the box just as Sakura stepped out of the clinic. He looked up to see her staring at him, her green eyes wide in an expression of shock and horror.

"What?" He looked down to read the box he was holding.

It was a pregnancy test box. And it was empty.

The Copy Ninja had never copied something as flawlessly as he had copied Sakura's horrified expression.


	10. Boys and Girls are confusing

When she woke up that morning she didn't think that she would have found out that she was pregnant by midday. Or she would be forced into confessing to the unborn child's father that she was pregnant before she was ready.

Or that the explosion that ensued would cause her to run out of the village to a neighboring one to stand where she was now in front of an abortion clinic.

She knew this clinic well, she had worked on women from her own village that went to this clinic and had complications. She wasn't thinking clearly, and after the terrible fight she had with Kakashi, she didn't think she could bear carrying his child. Even though she had only known of its existence less than twenty four hours.

Though now she was standing in front of the clinic, she felt an unfamiliar protectiveness over the unborn child. She couldn't go through with an abortion. Watching women exit the clinic made her shiver, and not from the cold. Her heart dropped a little when a woman with pink hair exited the clinic only hours before hand. She could have been the pink haired woman leaving the clinic, with a look as though she had been violated. That is what finally made her choose to keep the baby.

Sinking to the sidewalk on the dimly lit street she could only sit there and sob. What had she gotten herself into? She knew what she felt for Kakashi now, at least she thought she did, and the thought of killing a future child of his made her heart break.

"Even if he is a selfish, heartless asshole." She said to her self bitterly through her tears.

She was so tired from crying the entire way there, and the entire time she stood in front of the now closing clinic on the fence with her decision. After she finally came to the conclusion that she couldn't do it, she stood there even longer and cried some more. She couldn't help but be a little disgusted with her self. She needed to stop crying so much. She was feeling like she was twelve all over again.

Though if she was twelve she wouldn't be in this mess, and if she was then Kakashi would have some explaining to do.

This made her laugh a little. She knew it was an awful thought, but she didn't care at the moment. She just knew she had to get off the street and maybe get a room for the night at a nearby inn. She was very thankful she had her wallet on her, or she would be in a tight spot… well worse off than she already was.

Sneezing for the tenth time since she had been standing in front of the clinic, she was beginning to be a little upset she wasn't wearing anything warmer than the green dress Ino lent her that day and her coat. Some rest and another long soak in a tub was more than what she needed. She reached her hands into her pockets and felt a small packet, remembering that they were the herbs Kakashi had brought from Tsunade.

God, she was just going to cry all night now wasn't she? She thought bitterly as she broke into fresh sobs.

Sakura's heart caught in her throat when she heard a familiar voice.

"This way!"

* * *

_**Early that day….**_

Kakashi stared at Sakura in horror as he held the pink box in his hand. He didn't know what to say. What could he say really? He had a lot of questions but one that was the most important seemed to come out first.

"Are you?..." Sakura's gaze dropped immediately to the ground as she started to wring her hands nervously.

"Y-Yes…"

"Is it… mine?"

"Of course it's yours!" She snapped, as if insulted he would ask such a thing. That was not the best thing to say to keep her mood pleasant. "I don't sleep around." Kakashi winced a bit and tried to defend him self.

"I don't keep tabs on your romantic life Sakura." He said a little harshly, and her face winced at his tone also. He just wasn't saying anything right at the moment. "How long have you known?..." He tried to ease his tone, to sound softer.

More silence as she went back to nervously wringing her hands.

"…About two hours." She said quietly as she wrapped her arms around her body from the chill in the air, looking away from him. The nervousness she was experiencing at first was now lined with annoyance from his comment. "I… wanted to tell you as soon as possible, which is why I wanted you to walk me home..."

"Oh." Kakashi was trying to think of anything to say. When in doubt do what you're used to, so he did. He stood there as his usual lazy eyed, aloof self. "What are you going to do?" He said, his voice void of emotion as if he was discussing mission details with her.

"What am _I_ going to do?" She looked a little shocked at his lack of including himself in on the situation. Ino was wrong about his reaction to the news.

"I didn't mean it like that it's just…" Kakashi said, looking to the side. The air had suddenly gotten very thick and charged.

"Just what?" She snapped. His brow forked and his eyes narrowed on Sakura.

"You aren't making this any easier Sakura."

"Because it's just sunshine and daisies for me, right Kakashi?" She ground out, stepping a bit closer. He didn't back down, as he unconsciously pumped his fists. "What am I supposed to do? I'm sorry I'm not making it easier for YOU!"

"What am I supposed to do Sakura? We screw up, and now we are both screwed." He said, his voice taking the deep tone it normally did when he was being serious.

"So I was a mistake? Fine. It doesn't change the fact that you are going to be a-"

"I don't want to be a father!" He snapped at her, causing her flinch and step back again. Her heart broke a little after hearing that. She knew he was angry, and it was her fault for being so snappy because of the stressful situation. There had to be some truth in the exclamation though. He didn't want this baby.

"Fine…you won't have to be." Sakura said with an eerie calm as she snatched her coat from him. The tone in her voice unsettled Kakashi.

"Sakura?...wait, what are you thinking? I didn't mean-" She turned her back to him, cutting him off. She started to jog away and he started to follow. "Sakura?! Hey, where are you going?!" She turned so fast, that he had to skid to a halt.

"Leave me ALONE!" She screamed; her eyes flashing dangerously as she swung at him. He jumped backward, giving her the chance to take off again.

He hadn't meant to say those things. He just went on the offensive when she got a little irrational like that. Hearing news like that threw him off too. He knew she just needed to cool off for a few hours, and then he would send Pakkun to seek her out. He would try to talk with her again then.

God, she was pregnant.

Sakura was pregnant with his baby.

He was going to be a father. Did he mean what he said, that he didn't want to be a father?

He suddenly felt a little light headed. The feeling like he had been hit over the head very hard wasn't new to him. It was the feeling of no pain, and his stomach doing nervous flips that threw him off. He should be horrified. He needed to be horrified and be trying to back pedal. The more he thought about it though the more his heart seemed to beat a little faster.

It wasn't a bad feeling, but he couldn't tell if it was a good feeling either. What was he going to do? Did she want the baby?

He was always afraid of ever having children, not wanting them to suffer the same fate as he. It was something he would always remember, watching his father commit seppuku in front of him at such a young age. He didn't want a child to grow up the way he had.

Sakura knew him so well; couldn't she understand why he would freak out a little over this news? She knew about his past better than the other two.

* * *

Kakashi shook in disbelief as he stood on the dark street. The clinic in front of him had been closed for a while. He frantically asked a woman closing up for the night if a pink haired woman had been there that day. After a long speech about privacy from the woman, she finally said yes, a pink haired woman had been in the clinic that day.

Pakkun had led him to this very spot, in front of that building. How many pink haired women really wandered the streets? It was almost a rarity.

"She came here Kakashi. She was here for hours." A chill ran up his spine as he turned his back to the clinic.

He caused her to do this. It was his fault. He didn't want her to give it up; he reacted to harshly.

He wasn't the most emotionally stable man in the village, she knew that!

With out a second thought Kakashi picked up a trash can from the side walk and hurled it down the street with a loud angry yell. Pakkun stared at his master as he stood there, shaking with anger. Kakashi wasn't the type to get violent when angry, he normally kept his cool.

"Kakashi-"

"You can leave now Pakkun, your work is done for the night." Kakashi said through clenched teeth. Pakkun eyed him warily before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Tomorrow was Sunday. He had training with Naruto and Sasuke. She had her normal duties at the emergency clinic and he knew she would make them all dinner whether she truly was in a state to do it or not.

His heart ached at that thought. They always came first to her, whether she was in pain or not. She gave up a child because he was being an asshole and said he didn't want to be a father. He should have known by the way she left him on the street that something was terribly wrong.

Kakashi slumped down onto the street, staring at his hands. He had unconsciously gotten his hopes up at the thought of a child. He didn't know he had wanted to be a father until much thought after the fact that Sakura was pregnant was presented to him.

"Now she's not." He said numbly into his hands.

He was disgusted with himself. Sweet Sakura would never be the same after doing this. The knowledge that she had been pregnant and willing gave it up would stay with her the rest of her life.

And it was his fault for doing it to her.

* * *

Sakura had her chakra hidden when she heard Pakkun. The gruff little voice was unmistakable, so she panicked and ran into a nearby alley. Pakkun knew her scent was all over the place, so he probably wouldn't be alarmed if it seemed to be very fresh because she was still there.

Kakashi almost picked the girl up who was closing the clinic, desperately pleading to know if a pink haired woman had been there. Sakura froze. He was assuming she went through with it. She just watched Kakashi from a distance have a minor melt down. The girl from the clinic hurried down the street, a little faster than if she was just trying to get home. Probably a little disconcerted why a shinobi from the neighboring village was so interested in a patient from the clinic.

She didn't know why it made her heart leap a little in relief to see his resolve break. Throwing a trash can and yelling down the quiet street was very un-Kakashi. He dismissed Pakkun, almost growling as he did so.

He was upset with the knowledge that she had an abortion. She didn't though.

There was hope after all. She had just dropped the information on him so quickly he retaliated.

Though Sakura was almost finding a sick fascination with the image of Kakashi's façade crumbling around his ears, she had to get into an inn before her cold worsened.

So with a final glance backward to see the troubled man staring down at his hands, she walked quietly down the alley.


	11. Going Through the Motions

Sakura slowly went through the motions of her kata that morning. It was like Doctor Sakura was inside, lecturing her to take it easy on ever heating herself. She could run all day and be fine. When she exercised it was different though, she consciously made her self sweat to push herself to her limits. She couldn't do that for a while though. Her medical training was like a voice that nagged her on what she should and shouldn't be doing. Like over heating the baby at such an early stage of development could cause brain damage.

So she went through the motions, and it seemed to relax her to the point of meditating. That morning she woke up with a new sense of peace. She had left the neighboring village before the sun had risen that day and headed straight for Ino and Sasuke's when she arrived in Konoha that morning to apologize to her for not coming over the night before. She had to come up with some extravagant story to tell the guards at the front gate so they wouldn't report it to Tsuande-shishou. That woman was as nosey as she was at times. Though just like her she would never admit it to anyone but herself.

Sakura sighed quietly as she continued her movement. Things were going to happen how they would happen. She just needed to accept she was going to be a mom, and that her life was going to change. Things looked impossible now, but she would love this child and raise it the best that she could. Ino had sat her down for some tea that morning, decaf of course, and went through a life plan for her.

She knew how much being a shinobi and medical ninja meant to Sakura. She would never be happy if she couldn't continue to be on her team. When Sakura told her what happened the night before, Ino informed her that she was actually thinking about being a full time medical ninja for Konoha and expanding the clinic so it offered more services to help the hospital. She wanted to settle down and help her mother with her flower shop too. So she offered to be care taker for the little one while Sakura was on missions. This would let her baby grow up in a safe environment and around more shinobi and another child, Ino and Sasuke's baby, around the same age.

Of course the realization that Ino was there for her, that everything was going to work out and, her life wasn't over made her go into hysterical relieved sobs. Which of course Ino joined in. It must have been hormones.

Sakura smiled gently and she started her kata over. Ino and her relationship had gotten closer since Sasuke had left the village. Now it wasn't an intense rivalry, it was a playful one of, "Let's see who gains the least amount of weight!" rivalry that caused them both to start laughing. Ino seemed to make the weight on Sakura's chest disappear. She was eternally grateful for a friend like Ino.

Kakashi was another story though. The night before with his show of anger and sadness in the street, she knew he acted rashly the day before with her. She knew he cared for her as a good friend. She couldn't help but let the inner Sakura cheer for something more though. Her feelings for Kakashi had been growing, even if she hadn't realized just how much at first. It took a one night stand to make her realized she didn't quite see him as just a friend anymore. Maybe him believing the baby was gone, he would have feelings for her that weren't forced because of an accidental pregnancy.

That didn't leave her a lot of time to seek out a romantic relationship with the stoic man before he realized that she was indeed still pregnant.

"Sakura-chan!" Sakura was startled from her thoughts to see Naruto jogging up to her, Kakashi and Sasuke were just making their way up the hill. "I'm bringing Hinata to dinner tonight; she wants to talk to you about the wedding." The man said cheerfully. Sakura did a double take at the taller blonde man.

"You guys already set a date?"

"Yep! Surprised her family too, but we have already been together longer than they realize so…" He trailed off shyly, like he normally did when talking about Hinata. Sakura smiled and couldn't help but notice the girl was rubbing off on him.

"I invited Ino to dinner also, so it will be a big get together." Sakura said cheerfully, noticing the two men that had been lagging behind had finally caught up. She turned and looked Kakashi straight in the eye, causing him to jump a little.

"Good morning Kakashi." Her voice was oozing with forced cheerfulness. She couldn't help but still be angry at him, but she wasn't going to let him know anything about the pregnancy until she could be sure that there were feelings between them that weren't forced by the thought of baby. Until then it would be kept a secret… until she started showing that is.

"Good morning… Sakura-chan." She twitched a little at the "chan" added at the end of her name; he only used it when he was trying to be sweet. She smiled at him, causing his gaze to waver slightly. He was testing the waters to see if she was feeling alright, and she knew it. He believed that she had an abortion the night before, and even with her healing abilities, she would still be a little sore. She let her smile falter a little as if she was tired, just for show of course.

"How are you doing this morning Sasuke?" She asked as she turned her smiling face to him. He mumbled grumpily as he rubbed one of his arms.

"Kakashi has been a little more… intense this morning. Nearly ripped my arm off. I don't know how Naruto can still run. You're lucky you only train with us every once in a while, this morning Kakashi had no mercy." Sakura raised her eyebrow at Kakashi and he turned to the side quickly.

"We aren't finished. We will see you tonight, Sakura." Kakashi said a little icily as the other two men groaned and followed him.

"Bye Sakura-chan! See you tonight!" Naruto said, and Sasuke waved slightly as they left. Kakashi kept his back to her as they walked away.

He was actually mad at her. She couldn't really blame him, but it did annoy her a little.

Sakura stretched a little, dropping her hands unconsciously to her stomach again. She needed to stop doing that or she would give herself away. She couldn't help it though. As she walked off the training ground toward Konoha's front gates where the emergency clinic was located, she rubbed her stomach gently in peace. No one could see her, and the knowledge that she was going to be a mother was already growing on her like a fungus. She dropped her hands quickly when she entered the town; she didn't need rumors that just so happen to be true floating around town.

She entered the clinic and immediately put on her lab coat, picking up Asuma's chart as she walked down the hall toward his room. She was greeted by the sound of Ino scolding Asuma.

"Asuma-kun, you can't leave until SAKURA discharges you. You are not my patient. She is the one who glued you back together, remember?"

"I was hoping she would discharge me yesterday, but Kakashi dragged her out of the room before I could ask her." Sakura took this as her queue to walk in.

"Well if you_ promise_ to take it easy the next few days, then you can go home. I was going to discharge you yesterday; but-…uh… got a little distracted with other… emergencies." Asuma's surprise of her walking into the room disappeared when she stumbled over her explanation.

"Did Kakashi finally grow some balls and ask you out?" Sakura nearly dropped his chart and Ino gasped so loudly it sounded like a hiss.

"Why would you ask a thing like that?!" Sakura said quickly, not even trying to change the subject. Asuma did his usual chuckle and pulled out a cigarette, which Ino immediately snatched out of his mouth shooting him a dirty look as she did it.

"I have never seen Hatake Kakashi take an interest in a woman as much as he has taken an interest with you. Even when he was younger and had some flings, he never visited them in a hospital. Kakashi HATES hospitals, yet if you're here he walks in as if it were a candy shop." Ino smiled as Sakura turned a little pink and started scribbling nonsense in his chart.

"He only sees me as a friend." Sakura said blandly.

"Kurenai is how he treats female friends. You're something else, he just hasn't figured out what yet."

"Asuma, this is a little deep coming from you." Ino couldn't hold back the surprise in her voice.

"Eh, well… everyone has their moments."


	12. Kitchens, well you tell me!

Sakura stood in her kitchen with steam rising from several pots. She was making a small pot of Miso soup, which she knew Kakashi had a weak spot for her Miso soup. She was planning on asking him to stay after the group left to, _'Help with dishes.'_

It was going to be a low blow on her part that she was going to have his favorite soup to tempt him with.

The saying that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach wasn't too far off. She personally made the soup because she knew he couldn't eat it with out taking off his mask. Every time she made it, Miso was the only one he couldn't turn down and would take a large helping home to eat it behind closed doors. He really was an odd man.

She thought she deserved to see his face again, seeing that she is having his child and all; though she had to remind herself again that he currently thought differently.

When she exited the kitchen, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw him standing in her living room, holding an open Icha Icha in front of his face.

"Dear God Kakashi! Do you get joy in scaring the shit out of me every chance you get?!" Kakashi lowered his smutty book and just blinked at her.

His walls were back up, not crumbling like they had been the night before.

"We need to talk." He said blandly and her hands automatically went to her hips. She would have looked much more intimidating if she wasn't wearing a pink apron that said "Cutest Cook Ever." that Naruto had bought her as a, "Thanks for cooking so much," present.

"Then talk. I'm listening."

"I know where you were last night, and what you were doing there."

"You do, do you?" She said nonchalantly as she entered the kitchen again. She wasn't going to make it easy for him, just because she wanted him to squirm a little.

"Sakura." He said, his voice wavering with annoyance as he walked into the kitchen after her.

"What? I'm listening." She said, fluffing the rice with a fork. "Talk away."

"Why did you do that so suddenly? You didn't even give it time to sink in that you were-"

"Pregnant? Well any sliver of happy thoughts were stomped on by you yesterday Kakashi. I get you didn't want it, you don't have to make your self feel better by having a little heart to heart with me. Things can go back to the way they were." She didn't seem to have any emotion to her voice as she said it. Anyone in their right state of mind would be able to tell she was hiding something. Much to Sakura's benefit Kakashi, even for his unusually high IQ, was letting emotion cloud his judgment.

"Stop that!" He snapped, twitching a little as he said it.

"Stop what?"

"You are trying to tell me how I felt!"

"Well you made it clear yesterday how you feel. You didn't want to be a father."

"Just because I didn't want to be a father didn't mean you had to…" Kakashi's gaze dropped to the floor, and all the aggravation in his expression slipped away.

"I couldn't raise it on my own; it wouldn't be fair to a child." Sakura said quietly, keeping her back to him as she continued busying herself with preparing dinner.

"I can't help but feel-"

"Guilty? Don't. Remember, it takes team work to get a job done." She said, trying to make a little forced joke about his speeches on team work from when she was younger. He shook his head and rubbed his mask covered mouth.

"That was a bad joke." He said, looking at her wearily. She turned to see his expression and sighed, trying to smile a little.

"I will be fine Kakashi. We will be fine. You are one of my best friends; I need you to know that this doesn't affect how I feel about you. Yesterday is behind us. Let's keep that argument from causing anymore damage." Kakashi's face eased a little, but he still looked like a wounded puppy.

She could tell she was no longer in the negative with him though; it was time to get his mind off of the baby ordeal and to get his mind on her. Once she knew whether he had feelings for her or not she would introduce the baby subject again… if this didn't take forever.

Sakura grabbed a bowl and ladled some of the soup into the bowl for him.

"Miso soup? It will make you feel better." She said, smiling softly at him. He was still a little edgy, the fact she was being a little too ok with the situation than he thought she would be wasn't helping. He also knew that to eat the bowl of soup in front of him, which was his favorite he might add, the mask would have to come down. "Kakashi… I've seen your face before. I've seen a lot more than just your face too. Just eat the soup."

He sighed as he lifted a finger to his mask and pulled it down slowly. When his mask was down he took the bowl of soup from her, still eyeing her as she stared at him.

"What?" He was starting to get a little self conscious under her gaze.

"It's just amazing that after eight years I just have to wave some soup in front of you, remind you I have seen you naked and the mask comes off." She never thought she would ever see Kakashi blush, but he quickly looked down at his soup as a tinge of red stained his cheeks. So subtle she almost missed it.

"I guess I just trust you to see my face and not try to take a picture or something."

"You're my friend; I would never do something like that."

"I was hoping that you would have waited to talk to me more about being pregnant before you went and did anything rash, seeing that you are my friend too…" There, he said it. He knew they were trying to drop the subject, but it was nagging at him. He felt even more naked with out his mask on than he did the morning over a month ago when he woke up next to her. She could see his troubled expression as he stared down at his soup.

Sakura wanted so badly to come clean with him so that expression would go away, but she needed to know if he would care for her for her, not because she was pregnant with his child.

"I already told you it would have been unfair to raise a child by myself." She wasn't lying. If the child was born that day with how confusing and in the grey area her and Kakashi's relationship was, it would be unfair to the baby. She was hoping to rectify that in the next eight months or so. She was careful not to come right out and say she had an abortion though, knowing it might save her ass later.

Kakashi's head drooped down a little as he finally began to pick at his soup with a spoon.

"Kakashi?" He looked up as she took the soup away for a second, setting it on the counter. "Are we ok?" She said quietly, searching his face again.

He was quiet for a long time before he placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"We are ok." He tried to smile at her, making her feel a little weak in the knees. He did have dimples, she remembered seeing the hint of one the morning they woke up together, but he had quite a few.

She smiled and with out thinking about it she wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him in a tight, warm hug. Kakashi with out a second though eagerly returned the hug.

Why did he have to smell so good? Just like earth and sandalwood, or like summer in the woods of Konoha. He was so warm and comforting, and the way he tightened his arms around her made her feel so safe. She could have just stood in that kitchen hugging him for the rest of the day.

Sakura let out a deep relaxed sigh, causing Kakashi to lean back a bit.

"Something wrong?..." Sakura was about to answer, but her voice left her when she realized that their noses were almost touching. His eyes widened slightly as he stared down at her. Sakura could feel his heart beat quicken, and hers was thundering in her ears.

She could feel her stomach tighten up in knots. She wanted to kiss him; his breath seemed hitched, like he knew what she was thinking as they stood frozen in each other's arms. He looked utterly confused and dazed.

'Just do it Kakashi! Stop over analyzing everything!' Inner Sakura started chanting and throwing practices punches in aggravation at Kakashi. If she wasn't afraid of breaking the moment she would have pinched him.

Kakashi began to lower his lips to hers just as a slight tick echoed in the house as some one turned the door knob of the front door. They both tensed up and flew apart as the front door opened, visible from the kitchen, and two couples entered.

"Kakashi!" Sakura hissed quietly before Sasuke, Naruto, Ino and Hinata could see his face. "Mask!"

Kakashi jumped and quickly reached up to cover his face again. Naruto and Sasuke glanced up in complete shock just in time to see Kakashi's upper lip and nose before they were quickly covered.

"HEY!!!" Sasuke yelled, very unlike his usual aloof self, mimicking Naruto as they pointed in disbelief at the two standing in the kitchen.

"Sakura!!! You saw his face!!! You never told us you saw his face before!!!" Naruto screamed a little higher pitch than usual. Sakura could only stare, a little dumb struck at their twitching faces.

"Uh-…." Sakura was a little surprised they were shocked that she had seen his face, not the reason that they were standing in the kitchen with his mask off.

* * *

Dinner had been interesting to say the least. Naruto and Sasuke glared daggers at Kakashi the entire meal for letting Sakura see his face and not them. They looked like some one spit in their bean curd, no matter how much their significant others tried to reason with them. They hadn't stayed mad at Sakura though.

More than likely were going to milk her for details on what his face looked like. Or it could have just been because she made dinner and they didn't want to crap where they ate.

"No pun intended." Sakura smiled and she said it aloud as she walked across the dark street. She had finished cleaning the kitchen and decided, after much inward debating, to go visit Kakashi. He had slipped out with the couples after dinner and she didn't want him to worm his way out of what happened. She had a container of Miso soup, which he hadn't touched, just to bribe him with at the door.

He almost kissed her; he couldn't give a lame excuse of trying to get a better look at one of her freckles or something. He had the same reaction to being that close to her as she had being that close to him.

She could see that his house lights were on from her bedroom window when she went up stairs to change. It wasn't like she was intentionally checking his house out, she just happened to see the lights…

…the hundredth time she peeked out the window at his house.

Sakura's soft foot steps seemed louder than usual on the dark cold porch. She felt like a trick or treater going to the house her parents told her not to go to.

"Don't go to old man Kurosaki's house, Sakura. He's bat shit crazy!" she couldn't help but smile remembering her father's words and her mother scolding him for cursing in front of their eight year old child.

She was stalling with childhood memories. It was cold and she really didn't need to be chickening out at this point. Her time was running out, each day she stalled was another day closer to the point in her pregnancy she couldn't hide it anymore.

Taking a deep breath, closed her eyes, and she raised her hand to knock on the door, but it swung open just in time for her to knock on Kakashi's chest.

"Ack!" She squeaked, turning a little pink in embarrassment. "Hi… Kakashi." He merely grunted and walked into his house, leaving the door ajar. That was his way of beckoning her inside.

Sakura stepped inside the house and shut the door quietly.

"We need to talk, Sakura." Sakura nearly jumped again as he cut through the dark, quiet leaving room with his deeper than usual voice. When it was deep like that he meant business.

"That is why I came over." Sakura said confidently, trying not to give away the slight nervousness in her voice. She was pregnant with his kid for Christ's sake! Why was she so nervous about talking to him about the aspect of a romantic relationship with him?

"I think we should back off from each other for a while."

Shit. This was not going according to plan. They hadn't even broken major ground and he was retreating. She set the soup on the counter, trying to buy time as she conjured up what she was going to say in reply.

"Didn't we just agree that what happened wouldn't affect our friendship?".

"That was before we almost made another mistake in the kitchen." His back was to her; otherwise he would have seen the shocked, hurt look on her face.

"Mistake?... Why does it have to be a mistake?" Sakura couldn't prevent her voice from cracking a little. Kakashi was silent for a while as Sakura fought to stay strong, but his back was more intimidating than any of his death glares. The fact that he was trying not to recognize that she was there was killing her. "Kakashi-"

"We can be nothing more than friends. I have nothing else to offer you. I think we should distance our selves from each other until you realize that." His voice was cold. This was not the wounded Kakashi in her kitchen. This was the fiery Kakashi in front of the abortion clinic. This one was new to her. This one made her stop quivering and being weepy. The way he was acting right then made her want to inflict pain.

"You Bastard! Where do you get off making all the decisions when it comes to us!?"

"Like I said, I don't want to be a father. The life I lead is too dangerous and I will not leave a kid behind like my father did. The abortion was the best choice."

"I can't believe you just said that…" She said quietly, almost in disbelief.

"Well what do you expect me to say? You're the one who ran off and got the abortion-" He reeled on her, his voice had a dangerous edge to it.. Sakura didn't flinch; her instant reaction was smacking him right across the face when he said the, '-tion', in, 'abortion.'

She didn't regret smacking him, he was being stupid. He stood in front of her, glaring at her. She noticed the hint of surprise in his expression though. 'Didn't think I was that fast, did you Kakashi?' Cooed the Inner, very angry, Sakura.

"The Kakashi I know wouldn't be so cold." Her voice was still quiet, but steady now.

"You don't know me as well as you think." He said with a dangerous edge to his tone.

"I guess not." She ground out. He turned his back to her again and she took that as her indication to leave. She turned and marched out of the house, making sure to slam the door behind her as she left.


	13. Angered to Tears

Sakura was angry. This is why she slept horribly.

Angry when she woke up.

Angry through taking a shower and brushing her teeth. She realized it was hard to scowl and brush your teeth at the same time though.

Angry when she got the idea for peanut butter pancakes.

Angry when she realized it was a bad idea and spent fifteen minutes emptying her stomach.

Angry when she had to brush her teeth again.

Angry as she dressed for the day after receiving a summons to the Hokage tower.

Angry till she stepped out her door to see her team waiting for her to find out what their mission was. She was angry until she stepped out of her house and saw Kakashi that is.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto said sweetly as she joined their group. Sasuke grunted some almost resembling, 'Morning,' reminding her just how much he hated mornings. She said a communal good morning. When she didn't get a nod, or even an eye crease from Kakashi her heart fell a little. He had his trusty orange, smutty book out of course. He just turned and began leading them to the tower. They all started to follow, and all she could do was stare at his back.

She knew she deserved for him to be miffed at her. She did slap him and storm out of his house. She couldn't tell him why she was mad though, because that would blow the whole illusion that she, 'Wasn't pregnant.' She was just mad because he accused her of doing something she didn't. He did know that though.

…Who was she kidding though?

Watching him lead the team to the tower, she reasoned with the depressing fact that Kakashi didn't want to be with her, or with anyone else for that matter. He was eternally single. The Bachelor all the girls giggled and cooed about in the bath houses and he would never be tied down by a goofy, gawky girl with a huge forehead when he could have his pick of the entire single female population of Konoha.

The thing was… he didn't want anyone. So why would he want to be with her? She could easily chalk his actions the night before and the night that started this whole mess to a lonely guy looking for some action.

The only thing giving her hope was the night in front of the clinic. He seemed so upset, but it had been an awkward day. Finding out you're going to be a father then, "Ooops, scratch that!" would be enough to make anyone freak out a little.

His back was just as intimidating as it was the night before. She unconsciously touched her stomach gently as they walked down the streets silently. It may have been a comfortable silence for everyone else, but it was eating her alive.

She knew she had to come to terms that her and her unborn child might always have to deal with just seeing Kakashi's back.

She would have to work extra hard then. Her child would grow up loved.

Even if all he or she saw was their father's back. It wasn't till she was standing in the Hokage tower that it truly sunk in. The chilling thought that in light of this she might lose her best friend.

"Good morning, I have the specifics on the mission I had mentioned to you the other day Kakashi…" Tsuande explained as she handed Kakashi the mission scroll.

She and Kakashi were never going to happen…

"The snow country is having an issue with rogue shinobi attacking their village. This would not be too much of a problem, but Koyuki tells me that the rogue shinobi are using a new poison that they have yet to find an antidote for…"

She was pregnant with his child…

"She specifically asked for Sakura's abilities, and is paying double for it. She also looking forward to seeing you all again. She immediately thought your team, so don't let her down. The generator that produces spring like weather is saved for only three months out of the year so it will be cold when you get there. There is an extra allowance just for more winter worthy clothes."

Everything was falling apart before it even started…

"It is a long mission, because just getting there will take at least a week. You Kakashi will mainly be Sakura's body guard as Naruto and Sasuke help defend the village during attacks until she can produce an antidote…"

Oh God…not here, stop being such a girl Sakura!

Inner Sakura growled at her as a blubbering sob escaped her lips, interrupting what Tsunade was saying. The room went silent as she covered her face and she continued to sniffle and sob. Inner Sakura kept yelling, 'Not here!' at her, but she couldn't stop. She finally snapped under the pressure.

"I-…I'm s-sorry…" Sakura choked out, causing Tsunade to shoot up from her seat and point at the door.

"Shizune, escort every one BUT Sakura out… NOW." Shizune nodded, looking at Sakura in worry as she did. The boys stared at their sobbing friend in complete shock as they followed Shizune out. The other two weren't used to seeing Sakura reduced to sobbing anymore. The other two anyway, Kakashi was the only one who saw that side of the woman anymore and he knew what was wrong. Or at least he thought he did.

In Sakura's state she didn't see his head droop slightly in guilt, but he still refused to make eye contact. Though at that moment that was the last thing on Sakura's mind. The door shut behind them and Tsunade maneuvered around her desk, rushing to Sakura.

"Sakura…child, what's wrong?" Tsunade said in her unusual gentle voice, which was reserved just for Sakura, as she wrapped her arm around the younger woman's shoulders. Sakura felt more relaxed the second Tsunade called her child. It was what she called Sakura when she was in mother mode. Ever since she was thirteen it was like a quiet pet name that she gave her. The first time her training brought her to the point to having to be bed ridden for a day, Tsunade was the one who came in and took care of her wounds. She was so gentle to her that Sakura realized that Tsunade really was a caring woman. The way she dropped her hard exterior and was hugging Sakura to her chest now made her realize that Tsunade was family, not just her Hokage. She needed to tell her everything. She needed some one to know.

"I messed up…"

* * *

He was still angry. Though the guilt was killing him to see her reduced to tears in public, he was being stubborn. If he rushed to her side and comforted her, he wouldn't want to stop. He realized he was treading into dangerous territory when he felt the over whelming urge to kiss her when they were standing in her kitchen. The only thing that he had to cling to was the abortion. He now realized how much that bothered him too.

It bothered him that it bothered him. He knew it was for the best, but…

He didn't know why he had this awful urge to yell and punch through a wall every time he thought about it. This would not help the aloof persona he worked so hard to maintain.

"I hope Sakura-san is ok…" Shizune said quietly, chewing on her nail anxiously. Naruto nodded and echoed her worry. Just then Sasuke came sprinting up the stairs with Ino in toe. She brushed pass them all and ran into the Hokage's office, shutting the door behind her quickly. They all turned to Sasuke, as he crossed his arms and averted his gaze to the floor as if it were more interesting.

"Figured she could use another friend of the female persuasion…" He said, trying to brush it off as if he could care less either way.

"You're worried about her too, Sasuke. We all are." Naruto said, shifting his gaze to Kakashi expectantly.

"More than you know, Naruto." Kakashi said as he stared at the closed doors of Tsunade's office.

* * *

Tsunade stared at very quiet Sakura who kept her eyes on the floor.

"I always figured something would come about with you two, but this is a bit backwards." She said, a little smile gracing her lips.

"You're telling me? Imagine how I felt when I woke up in the morning with him next to me." Sakura smiled, the weight on her chest lifting a little.

"Ok, I have to know-"Sakura looked up quickly at Tsunade, whose expression changed into an almost cute, wicked one."-How does he look?" Sakura sighed, smiling even wider.

"He is beautiful." Tsunade laughed and patted Sakura's stomach gently.

"I hope he realizes that if this little one looks like him he can't put a mask on the kid." Sakura laughed and leaned back on the couch.

"That's if he really wants anything to do with it." Tsunade rested her hand on Sakura's shoulder and sighed.

"When are you going to tell him?"

"Well after this mission, if I'm anything like Ino, I will be showing too much to wear my normal uniform. So…"

"I can send some one else on this mission if need be."

"No, the village needs the publicity and Koyuki asked for us especially. This is good for the village and I could use a decent pay check to start getting ready for baby anyway. Missions from now on will have to be simple medical missions until the baby is born. They pay well, but not as well as these."

"Alright, but don't push your self." A sudden noise made them turn to see Ino entering the room and closing the door behind her. She closed the distance between her and the other two women with in seconds and pulled Sakura into a hug.

"Sasuke said you were upset about something, and I immediately thought that…"

"I'm fine, and the baby is fine. Just nerves." Ino dropped her head on Sakura's shoulder and started sniffling.

"I was so worried." Sakura smiled again. She was going to be ok. Everything was going to be ok. She had a family that loved her and worried about her more than she had ever realized.

She would be ok even if Kakashi never came around.


	14. Marching is for the birds

She was so tired.

A constant pace for eight hours wouldn't normally make her so tired, but she was unusually tired that passed week. Tsunade demanded that they take an extra couple of days rest before the mission so Sasuke could spend time with his pregnant wife, and Naruto could sit down and set a date with Hinata. She knew this was in her benefit too. After saying her goodbyes and promising that the team would be back before Ino hit her seven month mark, they began their trip. She felt tired before they set off that morning, but now she seemed to be worse. She knew part of it was from her pregnancy; she was just at the stage that she needed to intake more calories than usual to keep the child sustained also.

For an active Kunoichi, who burns more than the average woman, this meant she almost had to be constantly eating. She hadn't foreseen Kakashi leading a forced march; otherwise she would have packed her self some snacks she could eat with out the boys noticing.

Some ninja she was. She had failed the,"Always be prepared," lesson for the day.

She felt plain exhausted and doing a fine impression of Kakashi's droopy eyed look. She watched her team ahead of her trotting along with out a care in the world. Normally they took breaks every four hours. They hadn't even had a break to eat since that morning, which brought her back to the fact she was pregnant and at the point she could eat one of her team mates and be ok with it. She was just that hungry.

What was Kakashi's rush this mission? She didn't want to sound like a whiner, but she needed to rest and have some time to dig through her back to see if she had any type of edibles.

"Kakashi, I need a break." She said wearily, but he didn't even turn around.

"We are almost to the village where we board the boat. You can make it till then." His voice was cold as he continued walking. If she had the energy, she would be damn pissed. Maybe even a little violent.

"Fine…" Sakura was all she could manage as a come back as they continued. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances. With out saying a word, Naruto turned to see Sakura struggling and began to lag behind a little bit to keep pace with her. Sasuke quickened his pace to walk beside Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan? Are you alright?" Naruto said, just low enough for her to hear him.

"I am just a little tired; I haven't slept well the passed couple of days."

"Want a piggy back ride?" Naruto smiled and turned his back to her to offer it to her. Sakura smiled at him sweetly and waved slightly.

"I think I can make it Naruto, thank you though." He patted her back slightly as he continued his stride next to her. He decided to strike up a conversation with her to help her forget how tired she was. Sakura smiled to herself as he started rambling about random things. She knew exactly what he was doing, and normally she would roll her eyes and poke at him, but right now she welcomed it. Something to make her forget the burning, heavy feeling in her legs and the feeling like her stomach was chewing on the vital organs around it.

* * *

"So what is up with you?" Sasuke side glanced at Kakashi and asked after they were out of ear shot of the other two. Kakashi pulled out his book and tried to brush Sasuke off.

"Your wife's nosiness is rubbing off on you Sasuke." Kakashi said blandly. Sasuke snorted at his comment, but continued anyway.

"You were carrying her home last mission, but now you are making her walk for hours with no breaks."

"She is a grown woman, and she is a Kunoichi. She can take care of her self."

"She isn't one hundred percent right now. You saw her in Tsunade's office."

"Don't remind me." Kakashi said miserably, causing Sasuke and narrow his eyes on him.

"What is going on, Kakashi? Something isn't right between you two. Normally you are unconsciously babying her."

"I don't baby her." Kakashi said bluntly, a little faster than usual. Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms as he walked.

"Don't even get me started on how many times you have carried her home, or stayed behind to make sure she was ok at the clinic. Hell, you even visit her at the clinic. You hate hospitals." Kakashi stayed silent and kept on walking, his masked face buried even deeper into his book. "She needs a break, even if you guys are on the outs. As the team leader you have to watch out for your team, even if you are upset with each other." Kakashi still didn't answer. "You're being as stubborn as Naruto."

Kakashi's reaction to that was just a grunt of disapproval as he flipped a page in his book.

"Well when we get the town she needs to rest for a bit. Something is bothering her enough to interfere with her physically; I don't want her getting ill right before we go into a foreign country." Sasuke informed the older man more than he asked. He wasn't the young student anymore. Even though Kakashi was his team leader, he knew when to push the line of authority.

Sasuke watched as Kakashi put the book away into his Jounin vest and casually glanced behind him at Sakura. She seemed to be doing a little better since Naruto was keeping with her pace and talking to her. Sasuke wasn't used to Kakashi being this stubborn, especially when Sakura was involved. He knew he had to be pushing her for a reason and he really didn't want to try and drag an explanation out of the currently obstinate man. He would just have to get out of Sakura later

Kakashi wanted to beat his head against a tree. He hated acting like this, but for the distance thing to work he needed to treat her the same way he would Naruto or Sasuke if they were complaining about wanting a break. They were not too far from the town, and they were on an important mission. She never asked for breaks, and he truly felt awful for being such an asshole about it, but maybe that was for the best.

He just needed some time to get his mind in order. Things had been all screwed up since they spent the night together. He needed to start over from a clean slate. Maybe in order to do that she had to realize he could really be an asshole and that there was nothing more than friendship he was capable of giving her.

He was distancing himself from her mostly for her own sake. She didn't need him dragging her down, but he had to admit to himself that it was also partially for his own sake. Sakura was a distraction to him. He never realized how much of a distraction until now. He wanted the abrupt thoughts of her, that weren't exactly how you would act toward a friend, to go away.

Something snapped when he stood in the kitchen alone with her. He made a conscious effort the rest time spent in their village before the mission to avoid her like the plague. It would go away, he just had to avoid being alone with her and to wait it out.

Though, he was currently trying to beat down the urge to scoop her up so she wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with them. That would not help his current endeavor.

Sakura was a friend. Only a friend. He wasn't about to let his libido screw up one of the best friendships he had.

He was doing a damn fine job screwing it up on his own, thank you very much.

* * *

Sakura had spent another hour walking after she asked for a break. She hadn't realized just how slow her pace was getting until she felt Naruto's hand on her back. She looked up to see he was directing her toward the gates of a small village.

"We are here Sakura. Which is good because Sasuke's complaining about his blister is driving us all insane." Naruto said, gaining a death glare from the Uchiha.

He didn't have to use Sasuke to make Sakura feel better; Sasuke thought out of irritation. He could have easily complained of some other condition that was affecting himself instead of Sasuke.

The only response Sakura managed though was to stumble as her world began to spin. Just like that, she dropped like a rock. Fortunately Naruto quickly caught her before she fell to the ground. She slumped into his chest, thankful to be off her feet. The last thing she saw before going unconscious was Naruto's very worried face.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, shaking her gently. Sasuke walked over to them quickly to check to see if she was alright.

"Sakura isn't normally like this. I think something may be wrong Naruto." Sasuke said as he checked to see if she was running a fever. "She needs rest-" Sasuke said, shooting Kakashi a glare, "-but to be sure I say we get her checked out by the village medic."

"Kakashi!" Naruto expression seemed to prove that he was indeed the Kyuubi container as he almost shook with anger. "She asked for a break. She said she needed to stop! It wont matter how fast we got to the snow country if she is sick! She is more important than how fast we get there, you-" Naruto was interrupted by Kakashi's sharp voice.

"Take her to the medic." Kakashi drawled out as he turned away from them. His shoulders slumped a little as if in defeat, causing Naruto to do a double take. It was now obvious something was eating Kakashi also. "I will find us a room for the night. We will take the ship that leaves tomorrow." Kakashi continued, and with that he disappeared in puff of smoke. The other two men just stared at each other dumbstruck. Naruto's fury evaporated as he turned to where Kakashi had just been.

"I think we are in the dark about something." Naruto said as he hoisted Sakura up onto his chest. Sasuke only nodded in silent agreement.


	15. Ooooo! BUSTED!

Naruto and Sasuke sat at a small table in silence waiting for the medic to come back into the room. The tea that the older woman had poured for them had been cold for a long time, but they didn't even seem to notice. Sasuke had his head lowered and almost seemed to be meditating. Naruto was fidgeting and looking at any and everything that decorated the small, dim waiting room they sat in.

They had spent about half an hour searching for some sort of clinic when they finally directed to a clinic run out of an older woman's house. It was a small town, especially for a port, so they were thankful to even find that. They were in even more luck to find that the woman was a skilled medical ninja.

The woman was very kind and ushered them out of the cold quickly, pouring them tea and setting out cookies while they waited on news on Sakura's condition. It had only been about half an hour, but Naruto was growing restless. Sasuke took the time to rest from the long trip, but as usual Naruto seemed to be an endless source of energy.

Pakkun had arrived with a room key shortly after they found the clinic and currently waited patiently on the floor. The two men didn't ask why he arrived instead of Kakashi. They all knew why, even Pakkun. When he got the run down that Sakura had passed out it was all clear.

Kakashi felt guilty. So instead of sitting down and having a heart to heart with Sakura, he was going to avoid the situation like the plague. Kakashi wasn't used to showing his emotions. It was the only thing the man ran away from.

Though Pakkun knew there was more to the situation than the other two knew. He knew Sakura had been pregnant. He knew there were things Kakashi felt for the woman that Kakashi would even admit to himself. So the guilt he was currently feeling probably ran deeper than over working a team mate.

They all seemed to jump when the women entered the room, even Sasuke. It seemed the sudden movement of the door interrupted all of their trains of thought.

"How is Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked anxiously, saying what Sasuke also wanted to ask. The lady smiled and shook her head.

"She will be fine, but in her condition she needs to rest, and be sure to eat regularly. Running herself down like that is bad for the child." Sasuke looked a little pale, Pakkun seemed to make a soft yip in surprise, but Naruto looked stumped.

"Miss, I know Sakura-chan is a little short… and a little flat chested, but she is not a child." Sasuke didn't even react to Naruto's blondeness, still blinking in shock himself. Pakkun only growled in annoyance at the young man. Naruto took a sip of his now cold tea as he seemed satisfied that he corrected the older woman.

"No Naruto-san, I meant it's bad for her baby. Did you not know she was pregnant? Are either of you two the father?" Sasuke piped up quickly to the woman's question while wiping the tea off of his face that Naruto recovered from his spluttering, coughing fit.

"No Akimi-sama; we are only her friends. May we see her?"

"Yes you may, follow me." The woman smiled sweetly, not fazed but Naruto's reaction.

* * *

Sakura could hear muffled voices as a fog proceeded to lift around her. She couldn't make them out at first, but when she started to blink her eyes open she could see two men sitting beside her.

Where was she? How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was…

"Shit!" Sakura yelled as she shot up in the bed she was in, causing the two men to jump. Pakkun jumped from his spot he had taken at the foot of the bed she was in also. She smacked her forehead and mumbled more curses. "I passed out! Damn it!"

"S-Sakura-chan…" She turned to see the two men that were sitting in the room were Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto patted her back as he continued. "Are you feeling better?"

Sakura was quiet for a while, examining the room she was in. When she passed out one of the two must have brought her here. Which means it must be a clinic or a hospital of some sort.

"How long have I been out?"

"A few hours." Sasuke was eyeing her in a way that made her want to squirm. He knew something. The way Naruto was petting her back and staring at her as if she might pass out again, he knew something too.

"…What do you know?"

"The medic we found just happened to be a medical ninja. She did a full exam to make sure you weren't ill." Sakura winced. A medical ninja's first step in an exam is to check the flow in a patient's chakra. Normally when a person was ill, the chakra would flow around the source. Or in the case of a pregnant woman, it would flow around the child its self. So in other words, they knew she was pregnant. "Why didn't you tell anyone Sakura?"

"What I want to know," Pakkun started, causing them all to look at him, "How are you STILL pregnant?"

"It's complicated… " Sakura looked away from them all as she whispered.

"Still? You knew Pakkun?" Sasuke asked, giving him a curious look. Pakkun grumbled and covered his tracts.

"I am a dog; I could tell she was pregnant… I thought she changed her mind about it though."

"Why would you change your mind? Who's the father?" Naruto was still petting her back comfortingly as he asked the question that was nagging the two men.

"I… can't tell you. Just don't tell anyone else what you know already." Sasuke sighed as Sakura fiddled with the blanket in her lap.

"Well, we have to at least tell Kakashi. He's our team leader and needs to know to take an easy on you-"

"NO!!!" Sakura snapped, her eyes were frantic as she stared at Sasuke. Sasuke had jumped in surprise at Sakura's outburst.

"Why not?"

"Because he's-…" Sakura looked away and slowly things started to become more clear.

"Because he's the father." Sasuke said slowly and Naruto fell over in shock.

"What?! Woah! Kakashi?!" When Sakura and Pakkun stayed quiet, it confirmed Sasuke's statement.

"We are going to have to be filled in a little on the situation Sakura. We will keep our mouths shut, but we need to know what's going on."

* * *

Kakashi sat in a small pub connected to the inn he managed to find. He sipped the small cup of tea through his mask as he stared blankly at the rows of bottles in front of him.

He really wasn't interested in the bottles, but it was better than staring at the rest of the bar. Even though he stared intently on the bottles in front of him his mind was else where.

Was he really doing the right thing? Was Sakura so upset about their fight that it was physically affecting her? Or was it the fact that he was treating her only like one of his subordinates?

He was thinking of her more ever since he set out on his own little personal mission. He couldn't stop brooding on how he was affecting Sakura. He knew it was for the best though. Her being upset for a little while then moving on was best for her. He was not good for Sakura, it was his fault for not paying attention to how close they were getting. It was his fault for letting himself get so comfortable that the slip up happened that night and almost changed her life forever. If she had actually kept the baby, she would have wanted him to be with her and…

Kakashi's shoulders slumped. She made it clear in his house that night that she was interested. Why though?

Kakashi knew that there were plenty of women interested in him. The young girls who thought he was dangerous and exciting. The older women who wanted to feel young and attractive.

Sakura was neither though. She was young but she could have her pick of any men in the village, even some of the already taken men. She was beautiful, smart, strong, and an all around sweet woman.

She was not the type of girl that needed to be interested in him. He was happy living the rest of his as a bachelor… wasn't he? He thought he was happy, that was until he realized how close he had become with Sakura.

She didn't need him to drag her down. That thought always to seem echo in his head when he thought of Sakura. Though he was fully willing to live the rest of his life as a lonely man just to be sure Sakura had a happy life.

His eyes widened at that thought. That's when realized that he was in trouble. The feeling that had been making him miserable for the last few months was starting to sound suspiciously like love.

Love was a weakness he could not afford to have. He could never love Sakura, not only for her own sake, but also for his. He couldn't waver in his decision, any feelings like that had to be pushed down then.

"Kakashi!" Kakashi had been so deep in thought he almost jumped at the sound of Naruto calling his name, though his outward appearance gave nothing away. He lazily turned his head to see Pakkun leading the two men into the pub. Sasuke smirked as he dropped into the seat next to Kakashi. Naruto did the same on the other side of Kakashi as he clapped the man on the back.

"We just got back from taking Sakura to the room; she is perfectly fine, just…"

"Hadn't eaten all day." Sasuke said, his voice not giving anything away as he waved for the owner of the pub.

"So," Naruto continued, smiling cheerfully at Kakashi,"We decided you needed a drink."

* * *

_The Next Day…_

Sakura stood sideways in the bathroom mirror staring at her reflection. She was dressed in her normal attire or her red shirt, white skirt and black shorts. Though to her horror, and she only just noticed it that morning, a small bump was noticeable in her form fitting red shirt. That caused her frantic rummaging through her pack the various other outfits she packed that might conceal her growing stomach better. When she pulled out Ino's knee length green dress she wore the day she went to the clinic she remembered sitting with Ino packing for the mission.

_**A few days before…**_

"This looks better on you, and it's really comfortable, so I think you should bring it with you." Ino said, folding the green dress carefully as she stuffed it into Sakura's bag. Sakura smiled at her as she walked around her room packing for her. She was already wearing a cute little blue maternity dress and her hair was braided into two long pigtails. Sakura envied the fact that she could flaunt the fact she was at the cute stage of her pregnancy where her stomach only poked out a little bit. She wasn't at the waddling and swollen ankles stage yet.

"And your prenatal vitamins, of course." Ino added cheerfully as she dropped them into Sakura's bag too. "There is enough here for four months. If god forbid you are there any longer just send Tsunade a message and we will make sure you get more. Also, because it's such a cold climate Tsunade mentioned giving a clothing allowance that you can spend there. Just in case the trip is cold, bring a coat. Though it's getting cold around here too so you could probably just leave wearing it…"

"Yes Mother." Sakura said playfully and Ino just stuck her tongue out at her in response.

_**Present…**_

Sakura sighed as she stripped down to her underwear and chest bindings again and slipped the green dress over her head. The dress was loose around her stomach so she was thankful for that, it made the growing baby bump much less obvious. She also brought her long black coat that wasn't form fitting at all, which would hide it for a while also. Thank God it's getting so cold outside, she thought as she slipped on her boots and exited the bathroom.

* * *

"They say it's a cargo ship that is carrying steel, but it's the one that will get us the closest to the base of the mountain leading into the snow country." Kakashi said as he handed out the boarding passes to his other three team mates.

"Steel? God, we are going to have to deal with Pirates." Sasuke said grumpily as he crossed his arms. Sakura sighed and rubbed her arms, it was freezing outside. She was starting to wish it wasn't cold outside.

"Let me guess, you offered our services as Shinobi for passage to the Snow country." Naruto said; his tone unusually bland. In response Kakashi chuckled and gave his famous eye crease.

"Brilliant isn't it? We save some money and we are spreading Konoha's name."

They all sighed as they climbed the ramp to the large cargo ship. Naruto seemed a little more chipper than usual though.

"This reminds me; I sent a letter to Hikaru about going to Crescent Moon Island for me and Hinata's honey moon. I haven't seen him in years and thought it would kind of like hitting two birds with one stone. You guys should come!"

Sakura sighed again and smacked Naruto in the arm.

"You moron, you aren't supposed to bring your friends on a honey moon! I want to see Hikaru again too, but geez…" She smiled at him as he shrugged slightly.

"Your loss. Hinata and I are going to have the beach all to our selves."

"I think that's the point Naruto." Sasuke said, shaking his head. Kakashi chuckled as he watched the three interact with each other.

Well, at least _SOME_ things never changed.


	16. Calm Before the Storm Cha!

Sakura stood on the front of the ship in silence. They had been on the ship for almost a week and it had been unusually calm. She never knew pirates could be this patient. She had been ready for an attack; at this point she welcomed it.

Sasuke and Naruto took her pregnancy news better than expected. They had just become a little more protective than usual, if that was possible. Though they didn't agree with tricking Kakashi into thinking she had an abortion. She explained her reasoning, but then explained that she realized that it was just hopeful thinking.

She was falling hard for a man that would never be available to her in that way.

Sasuke and Naruto just gave each other one of their silent speaking to each other looks, which drove her up the wall, and announced that they had a room at an inn so she could sleep in a bed for the night. The knowledge that she wasn't going to be sleeping outside in the cold made her quickly forget their looks.

The day they boarded the ship was a Sunday, and to keep tradition alive she managed to barter some fish and a place to cook them from the ship's kitchen crew for some of her medical supplies. She wasn't worried about it, she always carried extra with her anyway. It wasn't the best dinner she ever made but baked fish, rice, and hot tea was better than the rest of the crew was eating. Or what their little group was eating for that matter. Ramen was not good for a growing baby. Ramen wasn't good for a growing anything. She thanked the heavens that she brought extra supplements and some dried fruit in her bag. Getting scurvy really wouldn't be good for the baby either.

The entire meal Kakashi just sat there, reading his Icha Icha book. They all knew why he wasn't talking, even though he wasn't much of a talker anyway. Kakashi just didn't know the other two knew the entire story too.

'Hurray for awkward dinners.' She thought.

Sakura sighed as she stared out at the sky and the choppy seas in front of her as evening approached. A storm seemed to be in their path, a nasty one by the look of it. She didn't worry too much though. Their cargo may have made the risk of hijacking pirates higher, but the chance of the ship rolling with such a heavy load was not likely. They would just have to go below deck when it hit.

Sakura suddenly felt the presence of a man next to her she hadn't been alone with in weeks.

"Hello Kakashi…" She said quietly, but her voice was firm.

"Sakura." He said, as if in greeting. She turned her head toward him; her hair catching in a different angle since she turned so it whipped around her face. He turned slightly also; his hair as unruly as ever, especially in the wind of an on coming storm.

Sakura suddenly felt the girly urge to swoon at the man. Even with the ridiculous amounts of material wrapped around his face, he was still handsome. Damn him, she thought with no anger behind it. His child was going to be beautiful.

Sakura fought the sudden urge to touch her stomach as she thought of their child. What was holding her back from divulging the truth to him? Her original plan was to get his true feelings before letting him know she hadn't gone through with the abortion. He made it obvious he never wanted to be with her that night in his kitchen, she was nothing but a one night stand. She looked down and bit her lip at that thought. She didn't need to be bitter about this. The night she conceived she remembered thinking how she wanted a child with out the male aspect of it all. Well, even though she was now chewing on her own foot, she got her wish. She wanted to be able to tell every one she was pregnant. She was happy about it, all except the fact that the father didn't love her.

Kakashi cocked his head to the side curiously as she didn't meet his eyes at first.

"Penny for your thoughts, Sakura?"

"Why are you out here?…" Kakashi blinked and then turned to lean on the railing of the ship. He focused on the scene Sakura had been watching only moments before. The wind picking up and the sound of distant thunder seemed to mirror Sakura's mood.

"You looked like you were troubled." 

"I've been troubled since our fight. It didn't stop you from ignoring me since then."

"You slapped me." He said; his voice had an edge of annoyance.

"You deserved it." She snapped.

Silence enveloped them except for the sounds of the oncoming storm. She hadn't realized just how tense things had been between them. She knew that if she waited to tell him after they got comfortable, their friendship would be uncomfortable again. She should just get it all out into the open now and let things run their course.

"…You told me that morning that you would be there for me always." Kakashi turned toward her again, but didn't say a word as she continued. "I told you that didn't want to lose your friendship, and that is still true, but I need to tell you something…" Sakura looked down at her hands. Once she told him there was no turning back. The words were lost to her though. She didn't know why she couldn't just say it.

Sakura froze when she felt two strong hands pull her into a hug. Her eyes widened when she realized it was Kakashi. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and whispered to her. "You are my friend, Sakura. You can tell me anything."

That's when Sakura's heart broke. That's when she realized that was all they were ever going to be. She had fallen in love with him, yet he would only see her as a friend he had a slip up with. A friend who was the mother of his child. Friends… that was it.

Her eyes filled with tears and she was thankful it had started sprinkling so the tears running down her face weren't noticeable. Her heart ached as she wrapped her arms around him also, squeezing him tightly.

"I…" She said weakly. Though to her it felt like she was putting the final nail in the coffin. Why did it have to be this way? Why was Kakashi so emotionally unattainable?

Why couldn't she find the words to tell him she was still pregnant?

She leaned back, looking him the eye. Even though his face was covered, she could see his expression. He was curious what was bothering her, but he seemed concerned about her too. She knew he cared for her and he was so close to her, she was in his arms, yet his wall was still there. Her grip tightened on his vest as her brow creased in a sad expression. Inner Sakura whispered from her bit of gloom, 'Kakashi, you don't love me but…'

"I love you…" The words escaped her mouth before she could hold them back. Her blood ran cold as his expression changed to one of pure shock. Sakura paled as it completely sunk in what she had just said.

Oh God…

The ship suddenly shifted, knocking them both over and sliding on the deck. Sakura pushed her self up slowly to see that the sky had become almost black from the storm. She had been paying so much attention to Kakashi that she hadn't realized how bad it was getting, though the sky's appearance wasn't what completely caught her attention. It was the large rusty ship bobbing around in the choppy seas next to them.

"Pirates!" Sakura shrieked over the loud roaring of the storm as she stood up shakily. The boat was suddenly lurching from the storm and it was hard to stand.

"Shit! They were waiting for a storm to attack the boat!" Kakashi said as he bit his thumb and formed a hand sign. With a puff of smoke Pakkun appeared, but before he could even grumble his disapproval about how wet the deck was Kakashi was talking to him.

"Go below deck; get Sasuke and Naruto!" Pakkun took off, scuttling across the drenched deck. Kakashi turned toward Sakura, and it felt like her heart stopped. She suddenly remembered what she had blurted out only minutes before.

Sakura quickly ran forward before he could say anything. She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't need to be distraught right before a fight. She lost her balance when the pirate vessel slammed up against their own. Tumbling out of the of the way of the huge anchor landing on the deck, she leapt back to her feet and backed up. Grappling hooks were being thrown onto the deck and a wave of men seemed to pour from the neighboring vessel. Sakura frantically looked around for something to use when her eyes landed on a stack of steel I-beams. She could hear Kakashi doing water jutsus behind her as she ran over and lifted one of the huge beams into the air. She ran forward and swung the beam like a bat, knocking a group of men flying, back onto their own ship.

"Sakura-chan!" Sakura whipped around again, taking out more of the invaders. She knew it was Naruto running to her aid, but she yelled out to him before he got to her.

"I'm fine Naruto! You guys keep them off the boat; I'll separate the boat from us!" She turned to see Naruto forming hand signs for his multi-shadow clone jutsu. It looked like complete chaos as water dragons and fire balls erupted from every angle. Between that and the dozens of Narutos running around, she figured they would be too preoccupied to notice her cutting all their lines.

Sakura dropped her beam for the time being as she ran to the end of the ship with a kunai and began cutting the ropes that the men were using to get onto the boat. Through her adrenaline she didn't realize that her hands were going numb from the cold. The rain felt like needles on her face and the wind was almost enough to blow her over, but she continued to run down the length of the ship dodging the battles going on as she came to them. When she came to the anchor she gripped it tightly and planted her feet. Her arms seemed to radiate with chakra as she lifted it slowly into the air. Taking a deep breath; she twirled, picking up momentum. When she was about to tumble over she let the anchor go, letting it sail through the air back toward the enemy vessel. Even through the chaos around her she could still hear it connect with the ship.

Sakura picked the huge steel beam up again, jumped onto the railing of the ship, and started wedging the two ships apart. Her muscles burned as she pushed as hard as she could. It was exhausting, she couldn't push them completely apart, but if she could get them apart enough so they could no longer reach the ship with the anchor that would be enough. So she continued to push. The other ship's hull groaned and started to collapse and the beam creaked and started to fold in on it's self. Finally the ships started to separate on their own because of Sakura's little nudge. Any of the ropes that had been thrown over after she cut them all snapped as the ships coasted apart.

Throwing the beam behind her she looked around to see that the army of Narutos were pushing all of Kakashi and Sasuke's defeated opponents over the edge of the ship. Sakura felt a little guilty, the water was frigid, but it was a danger in a pirate's job subscription.

"We good?!" She called over the storm. She got enthusiastic thumbs up from Naruto and nods from the other two. Their face changed though as they started to run over to her.

"Sakura!!!" She heard Kakashi yell over the other two as she turned to look at them again. Just then the dull end of grappling hook knocked her senseless in the back of the head. She saw stars as she lost her balance, slipping off the railing and dropped toward the water below.

When she hit the water it was so cold all the air left her lungs. She opened her eyes half way to see that she was sinking. Her lungs burned as she closed her eyes and emitted a soft green light that was her chakra, trying to heal her concussion before she completely passed out. She could feel the wound on her head heal, but the lack of oxygen finally got to her and she slipped into unconsciousness.

_Kakashi…_


	17. Starts with a Scream, ends with a Grin

"SAKURA!!!!" Kakashi yelled so loud his voice cracked. The other two skid to a halt as they watched him almost fly across the deck. He leapt onto the railing in one fluid motion, diving off to the churning ocean below.

"I have complete faith that Kakashi will get her; we have to stay to protect the ship!" Sasuke said as he stopped Naruto from running after them. "We also have Pakkun, we will find them!"

"…I hope you're right." Naruto said, but it was mostly to himself because Sasuke could not hear him over the storm.

* * *

Kakashi wasn't even fazed when he hit the water. His Sharingan was spinning the second he opened his eyes under the surface. It locked on the weak chakra flow slipping deeper into the ocean. The second he knew it was Sakura and took off after her, swimming faster than she was sinking. His muscles wanted to lock up from the freezing water, but he swam harder. He was only inches from her when he reached out and gripped her thick black jacket in the water. Pulling her into him, he began kicking furiously toward the surface.

It seemed to take longer than it did to get down as deep as they were. Air bubbled from his mouth as he tried to swim faster, all the effort making the need for air more desperate. From the storm, the light to indicate the surface of the water wasn't there, so it felt like he was swimming in circles of nothingness.

When he broke the surface of the water and gasped in a deep breath, he felt as if he could sing. Even through he was shivering so hard it felt like he was convulsing, at least he had air. What worried him was that Sakura wasn't gasping and coughing like he was.

Looking around, he was too far from the ship to be able to get to it with out completely exhausting himself before he even got half way there. Though a small land mass entered his view and he immediately started swimming toward it.

It wasn't much, more like volcanic rock surfacing and forming a small island, but it was out of the water. Kakashi pulled himself onto the rocks, Sakura in one arm as he did so. He quickly stood and hoisted Sakura's smaller frame to his chest as he looked for some form of shelter. When he found an opening leading to a small cave in the rock, he stumbled into it with out a second thought.

Setting Sakura down gently, he scrambled to start ripping open her jacket. Leaning down to listen to see if she breathing. Her lips were blue and her skin was so pale it bothered Kakashi. He immediately pulled down his mask and crawled closer to her.

"Come on Sakura!" He pinched her nose and began forcing air into her lungs with his mouth, but before he could start chest compressions she started to cough violently. She spit out water as Kakashi pulled her up into his chest, patting her back hard. She finally took a deep breath with out coughing, and Kakashi took that as a good sign and pulled his mask up because of the cold. Sakura shivered against him as her breathing evened out.

He gently laid her back down on the rock as he took in his surroundings. There were no trees he could see when he swam to the rock, which meant no wood, which meant no fire. He quickly stood up and slowly began to strip his clothes off.

It was not the most pleasant experience. He was wet and cold, but the soaking wet clothes he was wearing were only keeping him wet and cold. When he pulled his undershirt off and uncovered his face again he suddenly felt more naked than ever. He was used to the extra warmth his mask gave him, and being down to nothing but his loose pants, he could have argued that wearing wet clothes wasn't as bad as being nearly naked.

Kakashi formed a few hand signs before performing the fire jutsu he swiped from Sasuke on the stone. It wasn't a fire, but baking the stone warmed the cave. He then began wringing the strips of clothing out and laying them out on the hot stone so they could dry.

Now for the part that he was dreading. It was Sakura's turn to be dried, and she wasn't quite conscious enough to strip herself.

It was difficult not to look when he was stripping an attractive woman like Sakura who just so happened to be soaked to the bone. It made things see through that really should not be see through. This was his third time stripping her in the passed two months, not like he was keeping count. It was hard to forget things like that though. Especially the first time he stripped her. He was drunk, and so was she, but it didn't slow them down at all. That image was definitely burned into his memory.

He shook his head hard at that thought and once again he reminded himself that he had seen it all before, but it didn't make it any easier.

Life had a knack for getting him and Sakura in these kinds of situations a lot lately.

* * *

Sakura felt warm. The last thing she remembered though was how bitter cold it had been when she fell. She remembered blanking out as she sank into the freezing water, but now…

Sakura's muscles seemed to come to life all at once as she shot forward. Her vision was blurry as eyes darted around the very dark cave. The only light was coming from the opening of the cave, but that was also dim seeing that the storm was still raging. She did her habit of reaching down to her stomach in worry. It was a very traumatic experience, was the baby ok? She could still feel the chakra flowing around her stomach, so a little bit of relief washed over her. Her mind went blank though when she realized she was touching bare skin.

Why was she in nothing but her chest bindings and panties?

"Sakura? Are you alright?" She heard Kakashi speak, and she turned quickly to see his silhouette in the entry way of the cave.

"F-Fine, thank you…" Oh God, she thought. Did he notice her stomach? It wasn't really THAT noticeable, but if he was the one that stripped her… "Are we the only ones here?"

"Yes, but Pakkun is with them, they will be able to find us when the storm eases." That currently wasn't the main thing on her mind. She was worried about the fact that he might have notice something about her stomach. Well, she was about to tell him she was pregnant still anyway when…

Sakura's eyes widened as she looked to the floor.

She had told him that she loved him. She saw his reaction, he had heard her correctly and she couldn't cover her tracks because they were attacked. Now it was floating around the air around them like a kamikaze gnat ready to shoot in their eye or nose at any second. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Kakashi squatted down across from her with a few pieces of drift wood as he busied himself with breaking it apart to salvage the dryer pieces. She raised her eyes to watch him work.

She couldn't help but be reminded how handsome he was. He was hunched over his work, but he was shirtless and maskless and his muscles seemed to flex as he worked. His hair was damp and unruly as usual.

She hadn't seen him that bare since the infamous morning, and she was trying to restrain her self from reaching out and touching him. Just watching him in the dim light was mesmerizing. Every time lightning flashed it caught his features just right to where it made her feel dizzy. She not only loved this man, she wanted to have her way with him too. She was surprised with herself really. She never caught her staring at any man that way, maybe it was the hormones taking over, but she couldn't help but stare at him.

Kakashi looked up at her, a little surprised to see she was watching him work, and blinked.

"…Is something wrong?" This knocked her out of her daze, into an almost funk. He was ignoring the fact that she confessed to him. It had been an accident, but he could at least say something about it. He was ignoring her again, but in a completely different way this time, he was ignoring her feelings. She was being silly, she knew that, she had only been conscious for a short time and had come to that conclusion rather quickly. She knew Kakashi that well though. She was just going to have to make him acknowledge her confession.

Kakashi stumbled backward onto his rear as Sakura crawled over to him in a cat-like way. He went completely rigid as she touched his shoulder and traced the muscles in his arm down to his elbow. He leaned back to avoid her, but she kept coming till she was nearly climbing on top of him.

"S-Sakura… What-" His breath hitched when she leaned in and purred into his ear.

"Can't ignore me now, can you?" Kakashi snorted and was about to object when she leaned closer bit his ear gently. He coughed to cover to gasp of surprise.

"Sakura." He said firmly as he gripped her arms to keep them separated, though his voice was a little shaky from the situation. He scooted back a little to try to get the upper hand. "You shouldn't be doing this; I told you I have nothing to offer other than friendship. Acting like this isn't going to change that."

"I don't believe you..." She whispered as she leaned in again but he leaned away trying to keep her back as he scooted back again, this time sitting up to where he was on his knees like her. He pushed her back a little more.

"I mean it Sakura…" He said, keeping his face turned to the side. Sakura stared at him for a long time. His jaw was clenched so tight that it looked almost painful; his eyes were wider than usual with an intense concentration on anything but her. Sakura watched him silently. Why was he so determined to keep a wall in between them?

"I can't return your feelings." As he said it he turned and looked down at her, making direct eye contact. His eyes were so intense it gave him the aura that he was being _very _serious. She knew that was his answer to her confession.

How could he keep making her heart break with just saying one sentence?

"Fine…sorry for making you so uncomfortable." Her eyes began to water as she broke eye contact. She just felt silly now. She thought acting like that he would be interested in her again. What had caught his attention that night? Was it just the alcohol that made him interested in her? She just felt miserable and she wished he would just let go of her arms so she could go curl up in a corner of the cave and not look at him the rest of the time they were stuck there.

Sakura broke from her train of thought when she felt Kakashi's hand relax and gently brush up her arms and all the way to her jaw. He made her look at him and she could only stare at him in shock.

"Why are things so hard with you?" Sakura blinked as he said this, sounding exasperated as he did so.

"Huh?..." Not one of Sakura's most charming replies, but before she could say anything else he closed his eyes and lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her gently, as if afraid of her reaction. He knew how she felt, but he was still testing the waters. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands reacted with out much thought as they touched his shoulders with the tips of her fingers in response to the almost chaste kiss.

There was more emotion behind that kiss than she had ever felt from any other man she had ever kissed before. He seemed the fight the urge to deepen the kiss, and Sakura could feel his struggling through the light touch of their lips. Before she knew it though, he broke their contact and quickly left her kneeling on the floor.

"I shouldn't have done that." He blurted out as he snatched his clothes from the floor, heading to the opening of the cave. Sakura touched her lips and blinked. Why did he do that?

"Kakashi!" She called out to him, causing him to freeze at the mouth of the cave. He didn't turn around as she stared at his back. His back again, she was starting to print it to memory. She was able to call out to him, but to say any of the dozens of things running through her head was a bit more difficult. "…Why are you doing this?" Was all she was able to say.

"I don't…" He sighed as he turned his head slightly so she could see his profile. "This just can't happen. We are nothing more than friends from now on. Though I believe we need to avoid each other for a while." He finished, he voice taking an unusual dark tone. With that he left the cave, clothes in hand.

Sakura sank to the floor. She heaved a poignant sigh as she stared at the opening of the cave. Kakashi was as confusing as ever.

* * *

Sakura couldn't sleep the entire night; she knew Kakashi avoided the cave all night because of their slightly surprising encounter. She was happy to exit the cave when dawn broke, dry and fully clothed. The sky was clear and the air was crisp, just what she loved about stormy weather. The sky was always beautiful before, during and after a storm. Though the during was a little intense to view in the middle of the ocean.

Looking around the island she didn't see Kakashi, but looking out at the ocean she noticed movement that looked like a motor boat not far from shore. She couldn't quite make it out so she leaned forward slightly just to be startled by a deep voice not that far from her.

"It's Naruto; he must have Pakkun with him to find us this fast." She turned to see that Kakashi had been sitting on the rocks above the cave. From how relaxed he looked, he must have been there when she exited the cave. She felt slightly annoyed with the silver haired man for his flip flopping emotional state, so she was going to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Good." She crossed her arms, turned around and headed further down the shore. She was ready to get off the island, get a shower and some food. She didn't want a repeat of the first day of their mission. When she heard Kakashi leap down and start following her, she had to fight the urge to turn and kick him in the head. She settled for pulling her coat tighter around herself and crossed her arms again.

"I'm sorry about-" Before Kakashi could say anything through, a hand shot out from Sakura's coat and stopped inches from his face.

"I don't want to hear it Kakashi. You seem to think that we need to avoid each other. So I'll take this side of the shore, you go a few yards away. I don't even want to talk to you right now." She barked in a way that even made Kakashi inch back a little. He complied gloomily as he walked down the shore a little. Sakura was amazed that it had actually worked. He normally never did anything she told him to do. That was normally medical related though. Even though she was the team medic, getting Kakashi to take time out for bed rest was like nailing jello to the wall. Irritating and damn near impossible.

When she looked up to see what Naruto was riding in that was going so fast she couldn't help but slump a little. It was a more like on than in. Meaning it was a giant frog.

Sakura sighed a little and rubbed her forehead. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Sakura sat grumpily in the front of a dog sled, where she had been for the passed few hours as the team made their way up the mountain to the snow village. She was right; it had been a long day.

When they arrived on the docks they saw that the man that was there to meet them only had three sleds extra. Some one had to ride in as a passenger.

Demands were made. Naruto and Sasuke demanded that she was the passenger, and Sakura made a silent demand that she didn't ride with Kakashi. She didn't say anything, but when she stomped over and plopped down into Naruto's sled, they all got the point. They all would normally be surprised at this; Sakura and Kakashi seemed to always pair up when the situation called for it. Kakashi knew why she did this though, but again he didn't know that the other two were also well informed.

Sakura could only sigh in relief when she saw the large stone walls of the village come into view. Her butt was sore from the cold and from the bumpy ride. They had been fast paced the entire ride, and Sakura knew why. Even though there appeared to be one man leading them, Sakura could sense the pack of shinobi following them through the woods to ward off any attack. They wanted to get back to the safety of the village as soon as possible.

When they entered the gates, a group of six landed behind them to follow them through the gates. Once they were in a few yards them all except for their original escort began shutting the large metal gates.

"I will escort your team to where you will be staying. Please do not wonder anywhere alone. Go in groups of twos. The attacks have not penetrated the walls of the village, but it is better to be safe." He said as he continued to lead them on sleds through the village's streets. After what seemed like a maze of twists and turns they arrived at a small home with it's lights on. They slowed to a stop as the man continued to speak. "We didn't want to stick you in a room at an inn for how long you might be here. This is one of my vacation properties; we are more than willing to loan it out for the sake of the village. It's fully furnished so please make your self comfortable." He said as he helped them unload the sleds onto the porch. He handed Kakashi and key and returned to his own sled. "Haruno-sama, get some rest. You have a lot of work ahead of you starting tomorrow. An escort will retrieve you and Hatake-sama tomorrow morning at eight to meet up with the-"

"-Uh… why Kakashi? Yes, he is the team leader, but he won't know anything I am going to be doing in your village's labs."

"We can not take any man power from the perimeter of the village. Your Hokage requested for Hatake-sama to be your body guard since he is best suited, and your other two team mates help with the village's defenses until we are able to produce an antidote to the poison." With that the man bowed deeply and took off down the street in his sled. With a whistle the other three packs of dogs with out pilots took off after him also.

The group stood on the porch, a little dumbstruck at how fast the man left. Well all except Sakura. The man probably left because of the steadily growing battle aura around the woman. She couldn't even ignore Kakashi properly.

* * *

He screwed up… again, and it was affecting his sleep. He thought grumpily as he rolled over in his bed again. No matter how comfortable he got, the memory of Sakura on the boat came back to him. The way she looked when she said…

Kakashi sat up and pushed himself off the bed quickly. He pulled his undershirt on and fixed his mask as he walked out of his assigned bedroom and headed for the kitchen. He needed to stop stewing on that.

He padded softly through the halls quietly as he made his way to the kitchen, and he did the normal late night insomnia routine. He opened the fridge and stared into it blankly as his mind wandered. As he stared at the milk in the refrigerator he remembered how Sakura looked in the cave, well… after she played seductress. He was having a hard time trying to wipe that from his memory, he stood in awe of his will power that he was able to hold her off. It was when she looked so hurt and dejected that he caved. He felt that tug in his chest he always felt when he was around Sakura; it was just intensified by the fact that she was hurt by his words. He really wasn't doing the whole just friends thing very well. The scene on the boat replayed in his mind again before he could stop it.

She said that she loved him. He couldn't describe the different emotions that plagued him after she said that. One questioned seemed to bother him the most though. Did he love her? He really didn't want to answer that because he knew damn well nothing could come of it. She would end up getting hurt and she had been through enough hurt for a lifetime, even for a shinobi. He didn't want to cause anymore for her.

His feet started to feel a little cold and that's when he realized he had been staring into the refrigerator for the passed few minutes. Closing it he decided he really wasn't that hungry. Maybe another attempt at sleep would finally work; he only had a few hours before they had to wake up so he might as well try one more time.

* * *

"How long do they have after being poisoned?" Sakura asked as she made rounds around the beds in one of the hospital rooms, checking the patients' charts and vitals. The medical ninja following her seemed to creak under the vast amounts of scrolls and medical supplies he was carrying as he peeked his head around the load to answer her. A group of six followed behind him also, scribbling down anything Sakura said. She hadn't noticed the group almost worshipping her as she walked through the halls. She was a well known kunoichi for being so young.

"About t-three days ma'am."

"Have you done nothing for this man? He has been poisoned for two days!"

"We have tried everything; we can only make them comfortable…" He seemed to be speaking to a wall as Sakura grabbed the nearest pen and piece of paper and began scribbling a list of ingredients down.

"I need these as soon as possible, and we need to wheel this man into a separate room. Some one prep an IV to be ready for him when we are finished."

Kakashi watched from the door way as Sakura took charge. She was so good at that, she really shined as a medical ninja. Because of her training as a medical ninja, it made her even more deadly opponent. He wished it was him who suggested the field for her, but Sakura had been pretty independent from a young age and made the decision on her own.

He was also feeling a little edgy for the fact that the male medical ninjas following her were eyeing her down. He had to admit she was very attractive in the lab coat, hair pinned back, and nice but work friendly dress ensemble. He was having trouble with the fact that the other men in the room obviously thought that too.

She was wearing another knee length cream colored dress instead of the green one that he was beginning to be found of. She picked up a few articles of clothing that morning after claiming to Naruto and Sasuke that she needed something more comfortable for working in a hospital. So after being briefed on the situation she quickly dashed over to the nearest women's clothing store and proceeded to snatch anything that looked warm and comfortable. As ordered he was her body guard, but they had yet to say anything to each other since the morning after the cave. She went about her business as if he didn't exist. She even sat down for lunch and ate in front of him with out a word. He just followed her and read his comic like he didn't care.

He knew it was for the best, but it was eating at him.

He watched Sakura whiz by with a few assistants and the man she was working on laid out on a gurney. He walked casually after them as they disappeared into a room down the hall. He pulled out his trusty copy of Icha Icha again like he had been doing all day and decided to burry his nose into it for a while. With the way Sakura worked it was going to be an even longer day.

* * *

Sakura sighed as the last bowl of water filled with poison was taken away. It was always such at long exhausting process

Sakura remembered a few hours before when she pushed the gurney passed Kakashi and he just seemed to stroll after her as he pulled out his smut filled book. If she wasn't so worried about the man's health she had been working on she would snatch the book from Kakashi's hands and proceed to stomp on it. She knew she would get that lazy, yet surprised droopy eyed look

Stupid, stupid droopy eye look. Stupid Kakashi! She fumed as she saw him in her mind. He raised his hand and said "Domo." With that eye crease of his.

She missed it. She missed him. Even if he was being an ass. She knew that she just needed to wait it out, but she didn't have the time to wait. She couldn't put her pants on that morning. She ran to the store in her coat, a baggy shirt and her pants unzipped.

Kakashi was right behind her, which made it that much worse.

She searched for styles that hid the fact she was technically, after counting how many weeks had passed, in her third month of pregnancy. At least she had two months under her belt… no pun intended.

On her normally lean frame the bump was obvious unless she wore something that wasn't form fitting. She placed her hand on her growing belly as the last assistant left the room, wheeling the man out with them. She stood in the empty room by her self, and even with the stress with the father of her child, she still smiled down at her stomach.

She was going to be a mother. She hadn't thought of names, but the fact that she was visibly pregnant blew her mind. She really was going to be a mother. She remembered what she thought the night she conceived. How she envied Ino being a future mom, and now she was on her way to being one too.

What would she name the baby though? It had to be a strong name. She was probably going to have to pick the name with the way things were going between her and Kakashi. She wanted to name the child after some one who influenced Kakashi. She felt she would never be able to get to the stage where she actually influenced Kakashi. She would just hear the stories and times when other people were able to.

She knew everything about him. All the stories about his youth, even things Sasuke and Naruto didn't know. She knew every detail, but no matter how much she knew about him, and how he opened up to her as a friend, he kept clamped shut like a clam when it came to anything closer than that.

Except for a few scarce moments where his composure slipped a little, like the night in the cave. He was so serious looking when he said he could be nothing else but a friend. Then he turns around and contradicts himself with his own actions and kisses her.

Kakashi kissed her…

Sakura couldn't help but shiver a little. The thought of Kakashi kissing her made her warm and tingly all over.

Then it made her angry. That man had the nerve to lead her on like that. She looked down at her stomach and snorted in anger.

"Your daddy is an ass, kid." She said more to herself than the fetus that couldn't hear her. With that she headed to the door. When she pushed the door opened she bumped into Kakashi trying to enter the room at the same time. She bounced back a little, much to her annoyance. He blinked and looked down to see Sakura glaring at him.

"Domo." He said was he raised his hand and gave his normal eye crease.

"Ass!" She snapped and pushed her way passed him, leaving him a little confounded. He was just checking on her, it was his orders to not let her out of his sight. When she stayed in the operating room longer than the others he was a little worried.

Even though she seemed to be fuming, he sighed and followed her. He was beginning to miss the awkward silence.

* * *

"So what do you think?"

"Well he's always had a soft spot for her; it was obvious at our first attempt with the Chuunin exams."

"Ewww man! She was like thirteen!" Naruto made a face resembling a frog at Sasuke's comment. Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temple. They were walking down the street coming back from a scouting of the perimeter of the village which took all day. They seemed to only be on one topic all day though.

"I meant in a brotherly way. He was just as tough on her as he was on us, but he was a little more protective of her."

"He did seem to look after her a lot. Especially when you left." Sasuke gave Naruto a dirty look for bringing up his passed endeavors.

"I hear they became closer when YOU left too." Naruto returned his dirty look.

"Ok, so they are close, we have established that. Is Kakashi interested in anything else though?"

"It's really weird to think of Kakashi being with a woman at all."

"Well, Sakura is pregnant you know." Naruto said slyly and Sasuke shivered.

"You are making me ill, Naruto."

"Well it's true. You know Kakashi too; he had to have some sort of feelings for her. He wouldn't get so drunk and sleep with her if there wasn't something there. He wouldn't mess up that bad."

"I think he is just being stubborn and not admitting he has feelings for her." Sasuke said, seeming very confident in his observation.

"…Like you have any room to talk!" Naruto's seemed to be channeling his youth as his voice cracked and his voice seemed a little higher than usual.

"Shut up, Naruto. We are talking about Kakashi and Sakura."

"Fine." Naruto snorted. "Well I've noticed how they act around each other. There are times he is more than a little obvious."

"Like staring, visiting her, demanding he's the one to carry her from missions when she over does it…"

"So you think it will work? Them as a couple I mean."

"Yes I do, if Kakashi caves that is. It would make Sakura happy. If she's happy I think we'll all be happy."

"Dude, you can't even admit you care for Sakura? She's like team mom. She feeds us and cares for us." Sasuke smirked a little at Naruto, his way of agreeing.

"She is going to make a good mother." Suddenly Naruto froze and grabbed Sasuke's arm.

"You know what this means!?" Sasuke looked a little surprised at Naruto's outburst, but he was a little used to Naruto's manic personality by now. "If the kid doesn't look like Sakura we might be able to tell what Kakashi looks like under his mask!"

They were both silent as they grinned evilly at each other.

Hoped you guys liked the chapter! Happy Holidays!


	18. Street Brawl! Cha!

"I have tested this antidote countless times and no matter what I do it doesn't work. I don't think the samples are fresh enough." Sakura sighed as she bent over the table again to start over by crushing fresh herbs. She was reaching her wits end. She had been doing nothing but making rounds on the recovering poison victims she healed including any other emergencies the hospital had while she was there, and working on an antidote the other half of the day for an entire month now. She had been working so hard on an antidote so she could get the last remnants of the poison out of their systems, but it didn't look promising. A young man with black hair and dark blue eyes standing beside her set a cup of tea on the table in front of her.

"Maybe you need to stop and get a good night's rest Haruno-san; you have been working full shifts at the hospital too. Your last day off was over a week ago. I say you take tomorrow morning and sleep in. I will take over your rounds. They did assign me to be your assistant for a reason. Here, I brought you some Chamomile tea. I know you like it." He smiled sweetly and she sighed and returned the smile as she relaxed back into her chair.

"Thank you Tougi, that is really sweet of you. I guess we should break for the night. I have to get home in a little bit to make dinner anyway." She stretched and pulled the tea over to her.

"You have to make dinner?" Tougi asked; a little concerned about this.

"Not every night, it's just a little tradition my team has…" She laughed; causing Tougi to smile at her again.

* * *

Kakashi was standing in the corner of the green house they were in, gripping his Icha Icha a little harder than necessary. He had stopped reading over an hour before hand after seeing Tougi brush a stand of Sakura's hair out of her eye as she worked. He watched the man like a hawk from that moment forward seeing every smile, pat on the arm, and shoulder massage… 

Shoulder massage?!

Kakashi made a loud sound of disapproval before he could stop himself causing Tougi to stop rubbing Sakura's shoulders and for her to turn in her chair to look at him. When she looked in Kakashi's direction his face was completely covered by his bright orange book as if nothing happened. She sighed and stood up.

"Well I have to get going; I know the boys will be hungry when they get home." Kakashi seemed to bounce at the thought of leaving, though it wasn't easy to see from his outward appearance. He just shut his book and stuffed in into it's usual pocket in his vest.

"You stay warm Haruno-san, it's supposed to snow pretty hard tonight." Tougi helped Sakura pull her thick black coat over her shoulders as she watched Kakashi reach for his scarf on the coat rack.

"I will… Tougi? Why don't you just call me Sakura?" She noticed that Kakashi froze in getting his scarf and seemed to twitch a little. Just the reaction she was hoping for.

"I would love to, are you sure?" Kakashi twitched again and Sakura smirked.

"Tougi, we have been working together for a while now. Call me Sakura. I am close enough to you I call you by your first name." Kakashi snatched his scarf and wrapped it around his neck a little tighter than usual. Tougi smiled at her again, noticing Kakashi's reaction too. He winked at her and handed over her pink scarf.

"Alright… Sakura."

* * *

"His name is Tougi and he's a Doula." Sasuke said as he walked home with Naruto carrying a bag of groceries. 

"What in the HELL is a Doula?"

"Well it's kind of like a midwife or something like that. I don't know. I just know it has something to do with the health of the baby and the woman during her pregnancy. Tsunade requested for him to be her assistant because he is also a really good medical ninja. So he can work around her and make sure she isn't killing herself, like she normally does."

"So he isn't trying to put the moves on her?"

"No, Sakura told him the situation and he's having a blast making Kakashi squirm. Sakura told me last night that he's gay."

"Kakashi doesn't know he's gay does he?"

"No, he actually thinks all the babying the guy is doing on Sakura is actually him hitting on her."

"How do you know all this? Did Tsunade send you a letter?"

"No, Ino did. Oh, and the baby kicked a few weeks ago. It actually kicked the day she wrote the letter, but you know how long it takes for regular mail to get to this area." Naruto did a little cheer and clapped Sasuke on the back.

"Leave it to Sasuke Jr. to be already training in the womb." Naruto laughed and Sasuke smirked as they walked into the house. Naruto was quiet for a moment before looking back over to Sasuke.

"Do you think it's been a little calm since we got here? There haven't been any attacks on the village at all and it's getting to the point that the rounds are almost pointless." Naruto said more like a statement than a question.

"Yeah, I have been a little suspicious of how quiet it's been too…"

* * *

Sakura walked down the street, Kakashi a few steps behind her. She hugged her coat around herself tighter as she shivered a little. It was always snowing in the snow country, hence being called the snow country. She would only need a light coat and scarf in Konoha this time of year. She was thankful for the excuse to wear baggy sweaters and thick coats. It was just getting harder to avoid maternity clothing. It bothered her also that she was starting to have to stand with her back to Kakashi or facing him straight on when they were at the house because she didn't have an excuse to wear her large black coat indoors. She was small, but not that small. 

Sakura wished the baby would kick already too. She was at the stage she should be feeling the first kick any time now, but there had yet to be anything. Tougi told her it was normal during her ultrasound. That some women didn't feel anything till the fifth month, but if this kid was anything like Kakashi it should have been kicking the second she was into the fourth month. It should have been kicking with a vengeance.

During her ultra sound Tougi told her it looked to be a little boy. It was still early in her pregnancy, but he was certain it was a boy.

So she was having a little boy. A little boy named... she didn't know yet. Maybe he was taking after his father in the fact that he was having nothing to do with her until he deemed the time right. She snorted in annoyance as she stopped and turned so she was facing Kakashi. He stumbled a little when he noticed she was facing him. His eyes were a little wider than usual in surprise. Normally she would smile because he never realized how cute he was when he looked like that, but the reality that he had yet to speak to her really since the cave made her a little agitated.

"A month Kakashi. A MONTH and you have YET to say anything to me other than 'Domo.'"

"Well if I recall the last thing you said to me was, 'Ass'" He drawled out lazily. Sakura was silent for a while before turning around again. It was time for something drastic. She couldn't keep her pregnancy a secret much longer before it was obvious.

"I just thought you would at least miss our friendship by now."

"Sakura…" Kakashi's eyes widened a little more, dropping his normal lazy look for a more serious looking one. Before he could continue Sakura cut him off.

"Save your breath. You seem to know what's best for our relationship. Though," She continued as she looked over her shoulder at him, "It bothers me that you are willing to sacrifice our friendship because you are so afraid of being more. It proves it wasn't that important to you to begin with." With that she turned back around and started walking down the street again, the snow flurries picking up as she did.

Kakashi stood there in shock of what she had just said. He was so concerned on not hurting her; he hadn't realized that he was actually hurting her. He missed her desperately. He never sat back and thought that she missed him too, but she did. The one thing she asked the morning they woke up together was that what happened between them would not affect their friendship. She said he was her family, and because of what happened and all the circumstances surrounding it, he pushed her away. She was almost completely out of view because of the snow flurries whipping around her, and all he could do was stare at her back.

He missed her. He wanted to be with her. This was for the best though. It killed him to hold his tongue as she walked away from him, but she would be much happier with a different man. If he pulled another stunt like he did in the cave, he would just prolong the inevitable.

Sakura didn't belong with him. She never would…

Kakashi's senses went wild and he looked behind him to see an exploding note land in the snow. When the explosion went off behind him it sent him flying forward. He fell face first into the snow as he cursed himself for being so wound up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed it sooner.

"Kakashi!" Sakura screamed as she ran toward him, but froze when he threw his hands forward.

"Get out of here Sakura! Warn the village that they made it passed the perimeter!" Another kunai landed in the snow by them and with an exploding note attached to it. Kakashi scooped Sakura up and sprinted down the street as it went off, knocking Kakashi off his feet. He turned in the air so he landed on his back and Sakura was curled up to his chest. They slid through the snow until Kakashi's back hit a wall. Kakashi quickly pulled himself up by gripping the wall with one hand and pulled Sakura to her feet. He couldn't risk sending her off by herself if they were in the village. With out a second thought he pulled his forehead protector up so both his eyes were visible as he scanned the smoking street.

"We can't separate now, it's too risky." Sakura said as Kakashi bit his thumb and began making hand signs. "You should summon Pakkun."

Kakashi looked over his shoulder slowly at Sakura with his normal lazy expression, but one of his eyebrows twitched with irritation. Sakura raised her hands in defense.

"Soooorry, geez. I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at the-" Before Sakura could finish and before Kakashi could continue his hand signs they were accompanied on the street by a swarming mob of masked Shinobi. "Uh oh…"

"Why do so many rogues have to wear masks? It makes me look bad." Kakashi said as his shoulders slumped a little. Sakura just rolled her eyes.

* * *

Sasuke sprinted down the street with a team behind him as they searched the area. He pushed his hand to his ear so he could speak over the radio. 

"Naruto? Any sign of them?" The line crackled and Naruto responded.

"No, but all I see if a lot of bodies and damage from explosions. What happened here?"

"I don't know; we need to form a search party soon though. We can't take any chances of waiting with Sakura's condition." Sasuke said as he rounded the corner to where Naruto was and saw the destruction from what looked to be a serious fight. They were warned by the sounds of explosions in the village and came right to the scene. How was so much damage created in such a short time? Other than the mass amount of damage left, there was no sign of Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto started yelling, making Sasuke wince from the noise in his ear.

"I found Pakkun!"

* * *

You like it? It's kinda... filler...-e, sorry.

Though, only one more chapter till the one that was embarrassing to write. -.- ;;;


	19. Just so you know, I'm pregnant

Sakura's world was blurry as she slowly raised her head. She could feel that her arms were shackled above her head, which meant they hadn't won the fight. Everything came into to focus slowly and the first thing she saw was a grumpy looking, chained up Kakashi. He was just in his pants and his undershirt. Where in the hell were his clothes?

Even though Kakashi's mask was up and only one eye was visible, it was all he needed to convey his annoyance with Sakura. It looked as if he had been glaring at her even when she was unconscious with that lazy, unblinking, charcoal eye of his. She quickly tried to avoid eye contact as she took in the room. It was cold, damp, dark except for the torch in the corner, and seemed to look like it was carved from rock. They were in a cave. The fact that the snow village was on top of a mountain made this conclusion completely useless. There had to be hundreds of caves through out the massive mountain. The only thing she had to go on is the pools in the room they were in meant they were lower on the mountain because the water wasn't frozen. It was still freezing where they were. Her coat was missing and she was just in her lab coat and pale pink dress she had put on that morning. It wasn't really helping the cold all too much.

"You passed out." Kakashi said as if he was saying it through his teeth, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I kind of figured that I did." She said, and returned his annoyed glower.

"Why?" It was more like a demand that a question.

"I needed a nap; the street was as good a place as any-…"

"Don't be a smart ass."

"Says captain smart ass himself. Anyway, I have just been pushing myself too hard lately. That's all."

"Your chakra has been half assed lately. We were doing fine in the fight, we had the upper hand. Then right in the middle of it you dropped like a rock. Why?" Another demand; Sakura couldn't stand the intense look she was getting from him. She was completely under his scrutiny. He knew something was up.

Even being a hostage in a bad situation, she could have kissed the men who entered the room. With a new distraction in the room, Kakashi's eye was off of her. She noticed all of the men except for one stayed at the opening of the room they were in. The man who walked in walked straight for her. He was a little intimidating, just in his height alone. He looked like he could fold her in half. His hair was short and brown, and he was one of the only men not wearing a mask. She took in his appearance quickly, and noted the rock headband tied to his arm. His expression seemed to look almost sweet when she finally met his gaze. Though a nice guy wouldn't attack people and put them in chains.

"So you are awake?" The man said, almost cheery. It unsettled Sakura to see that he was looking at her and not Kakashi. Why was he looking at her? She was just a medical ninja.

"Why did you bring us here and not just kill us?" Sakura was also good at the demands sounding like questions. The man turned so he was directly in front of her, blocking her from Kakashi's view.

"I want my antidote."

"Antidote?" Kakashi and Sakura said in unison.

"The antidote to our poison."

"What? Why do you need an antidote? You're the ones using it on people!" Sakura said, a little strained.

"Actually it's still in testing." He chuckled as he continued "We need an antidote to inoculate ourselves. So we decided to pick a village that didn't have an adequate medical facility that was allies with Konoha. We knew they would send you, the Slug Princess' apprentice. You are well known for your specialty in antidotes and poison treatment." He leaned down so he could see her face better as he spoke. "You give us the antidote and we will let you go."

Like she hadn't heard that before. Give them what they want and they will kill you anyway. She couldn't believe how calm he was about explaining what they were doing as if he was explaining how to make a cake.

"You have been using that village as guinea pigs?!" The man narrowed his eyes on Sakura and as she tugged on her chains a little. She glared at him as she continued. "I haven't made an antidote yet. I won't make one for you that's for damn sure."

"You are lying. The shinobi we poisoned are still alive." He wasn't sounding so cheery anymore, and Sakura was feeling a little cocky for the fact that someone was acknowledging her abilities instead one of her team mates for once.

"That's from a filtering process, not an antidote. It takes to long and too much chakra-" The man seized her jaw, squeezing painfully. She could hear Kakashi pull against his chains behind him as she was forced to look at the man.

"You are lying!"

"Get your hands off her!" Kakashi barked behind him. He was straining so hard against his chains it was causing his wrists to bleed. When the man turned to look at Kakashi, Sakura took her chance. She shook his hand from her chin and clamped down on it with her mouth. She released a burst of chakra, crushing the man's hand with out piercing the skin. The man yelled and yanked his hand away from her mouth and smacked her with the other one. He reeled pack and went to punch her in the stomach, and before Sakura realized what she was doing, she pulled on her shackles and brought her knees up to block the punch with her shins. The caused her to bump up against the wall slightly, making her yelp a little.

"So defensive of the stomach, eh?" He reached up and unlocked her shackles, and grabbed her by the hair. He threw her by the hair across the room, causing her to curl up in a ball around her stomach and tumble into one of the pools of water. Sakura just needed to give Kakashi time; she could hear him straining against his chains.

She pushed her self up just in time for the man to reach her and yank her up by her lab coat with his good hand. "One of my men said he noticed something when he was chaining you up." The man yanked her lab coat off as she stumbled and back away from him. She stepped back and dropped into a defensive position. "Something interesting about your figure."

"Shut up or I'll-"

"Or what? You'll kill me?" He pulled out a blade that seemed to glisten with a liquid that Sakura knew was the poison. She couldn't risk even getting nicked by that blade.

The man chuckled at her anxious face but it was cut short as a chain wrapped around his neck.

"No, I will." The chain was yanked backwards causing the man to fall onto the floor in front of Kakashi. His head band was pushed up even though his Sharingan eye was still closed and the chain wrapped around the man's neck was the chain that had previously been the one hooking him to the wall. Kakashi stepped onto the man's face as he spoke.

"I told you not to touch her, didn't I?" Kakashi spoke calmly as his second eye opened, revealing his Sharingan. The men that had been crowded around the opening of the room ran in to help their boss just to be cut off by Sakura. She turned to see Kakashi had the large man taken care of so turned back toward the men and grinned evilly.

"Which one of you chained me up?"

* * *

Naruto gripped Sakura's coat as they scanned the snow covered forest. The men with them were scouting the area and Pakkun was trying to catch a new scent.

"They were trying to throw off their scent…" Sasuke said as he joined Naruto.

"It worked; I am getting three different trails." Pakkun said in his usual little gruff voice. "I know Kakashi let himself be taken just so he could stick with Sakura."

"You say she passed out?" Naruto squatted down so he could hear the small dog better. "Was it because she was hit or something?"

"No, she just dropped in the middle of the fight."

"Damn it, we have to find them soon. Take the strongest scent Pakkun, we will go from there."

* * *

Sakura dropped the last man in the dark corner and started scanning the room for her lab coat. She felt a hand touch her shoulder so she looked up to see Kakashi's weary face looking down at her.

"It's safe for the moment…I don't know how many more men are in the cave." He said and she shivered from the cold. Not moving around was really letting the cold soak into her bones. She could see his Sharingan spinning slowly from its recent use and didn't know what to say now that the action had settled down, so she stayed quiet. He didn't though.

"You owe me an explanation." Sakura looked away as he continued onto the subject that he was previously asking about before the rude interruption. Leave it to Kakashi to remember what they were talking about before the fight

"What do you mean?" She mumbled as she continued looking around the dark room for her lab coat, trying to play dumb. She busied her self with picking up the knife with the poison on it and wrapping it in her newly found lab coat. She knew it was inevitable, but she was so afraid to tell him the truth it kept her silent.

"You know damn well what I mean, Sakura!" He hissed as he grabbed her shoulders. "What in the hell is going on with you? What was he talking about when-"

Kakashi stopped when she cut him off with a sharp intake of breath. She immediately dropped the bundle the knife was in and grabbed her stomach, staring at his chest wide eyed.

"Sakura?! What's wrong?" Sakura guffawed as she looked down at her stomach in complete shock.

"It kicked…" She whispered.

"Who kicked you? When? I didn't see him kick you." Kakashi said as he crouched down and put his hand on her stomach as if looking for a mark. Sakura placed her hand over his and pushed it harder onto her stomach. Kakashi was a little surprised by this until he felt something bump against the palm of his hand. It felt like bubbles under the surface of her skin.

"I meant… the baby kicked." She said, a little misty eyed. Kakashi fell backward in shock and stared up at her.

"The…wait… you…" Kakashi couldn't seem to form a sentence as he stared at Sakura's stomach. She turned side ways and tightened her already wet and clingy dress so Kakashi could see her baby bump. It still wasn't very big, but Kakashi's eyes widened even more with the realization.

"I didn't get an abortion…. I couldn't." She said quietly as she looked back down to her stomach.

"You… lied to me? All this time I thought…" Kakashi was so shocked he couldn't seem to pick one emotion to go with.

"I had to find out if you could ever be with me with out knowing about the baby." She said, her voice cracking a little.

"So you could spring it on me on a date?!" Anger seemed to be the emotion he picked.

"I was going to tell you…"

"When? It's first birthday?!" Kakashi said bitterly as he stood up, causing Sakura to close her eyes to hold back tears. She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye; her eyes seemed to almost glow dangerously in the torch's light.

"If I recall you were the one that made it clear you didn't want to be a father."

"I can see your approach hasn't changed at all."

"I can see your enthusiasm on being a father hasn't changed at all either."

"You know better than anyone one my reasons for being weary about parenthood. I already told you we couldn't be anymore than friends, and you have been LYING to me all this time by telling me you had an abortion!" This was definitely the Kakashi she saw in front of the abortion clinic. He looked like a badger that had been poked one too many times with a stick.

"I never said I had an abortion. I just never said I didn't." Kakashi was about to argue when he realized she was right. This made him seem to radiate anger. His head dropped and he just glared at her, his Sharingan spinning faster than before. She knew he would never hurt her and that is why she continued to push him. "Admit it; you were happy to think I got an abortion. You said it was the best choice that night in your kitchen." His shoulders were tense and up by his ears as he clenched his fists.

"Sakura…" He said through his teeth, as if warning her. She was just happy to get a rise out of him from spending months around the stoic silent part of him that she couldn't help her self.

"You don't feel that way about me, I get it. The fact is you will never feel that way about me and anyone else for that matter. You are content with being a forever bachelor and a bit of a hermit. You don't want a kid or a relationship to get in the way of your time being a perverted old man with your dirty comics." Just as she said that a whole pack of shinobi came rushing into the room, and Kakashi pushed Sakura behind him.

"Oh you picked the worst time to interrupt!" Kakashi roared as he flew at the group. Sakura shuffled backward and watched Kakashi go head first into battle.

Maybe she pushed him a little bit too far.

* * *

Hope you guys liked it. Next chapter is an adult content chapter. So warning you guys now.


	20. I smell citrus, Is it Mr Clean?

This is my first Lemon, tell me if it sucks. .;;;

* * *

Sakura leaned against the side of the mountain outside of the cave trying to catch her breath, her lab coat and the knife bundled tightly under her arm.

She now knew why Kakashi was in the bingo books. She had always thought that the rest of the team's strength was finally starting to even out with his, but she was wrong. She had just spent the last few minutes sprinting and dodging flying bodies and Kakashi shadow clones as proceeded to beat a path to the opening, and almost seemed to be enjoying every second of it. He had gone into complete Berserker mode. He single handedly took on the guards himself as if he were a wild animal.

No wonder his Anbu mask was a wolf.

After a few moments he joined her on the outside of the cave, panting from over exertion. He leaned his head back, pulling his head band completely off as he breathed deeply to try and cool himself off from all the physical effort. His breath coming out in large puffs of steam.

She stayed silent as she stared at him. With all the drama going on, she had forgotten just how beautiful Kakashi was. He stood there, looking dangerous with a kunai still in hand and blood streaking his clothes and bare muscular arms. She couldn't help but eye the Anbu tattoo on his arm. It was the equivalent of being a rock star in Konoha to have that tattoo. It was a sign of strength, skill and acknowledgement from the village. It was almost harder to get into Anbu than it was to become Hokage.

He looked over at her slowly, his mask tattered and hanging down around his neck and the shirt connected to it was almost nonexistent, leaving her eyes to freely roam his toned physique. With the little bit of blood on his face and both of his eyes uncovered, he looked wicked. Sakura was at a loss on how those eyes could ever look droopy or lazy. She couldn't understand why she hadn't started swooning over this man sooner. The Kunoichi in her couldn't help but be attracted to a blood stained, fresh out of battle Shinobi like Kakashi.

At that moment Hatake Kakashi was the hottest man alive. She felt her body tingle as she stared at him, his body glistening in the moon light from the recent fight. It may have been snowing, but Sakura felt like she was in an oven. She was breathing harder by the second as her hand gripped her dress slightly. His chest seemed to still be heaving, but not from the recent events either. His eyes roamed over her too, still containing that almost animalistic glint in them they had during the fight. Maybe she did push him a little too far.

She knew she had been pissed at him, but at that moment her mind was so foggy she couldn't remember why. Her knees knocked together and she jerked in shock, causing her to drop the bundle under her arm when he began walking over to her. Her hands touched the wall behind her as he neared, almost afraid of the look in his eye. His arm jerked to the side as the kunai landed in a tree a few yards away with out him even looking at it. That was better than any pick up line any man ever used on her. That was foreplay for a Shinobi.

With in moments Kakashi was upon her, so close she could hear his still almost panting breaths. She could smell the faint smell of sandalwood that always seemed to be embedded in his skin; it hadn't been marred by the metallic smell of blood.

Sakura looked up at him slowly, overcome by the fact that he was this close to her. Before she could even make eye contact though his mouth found hers in a clumsy, passionate kiss. This kiss was not like the one in the cave so long ago, he was not holding back. Her arms were around his neck with in seconds, pulling him closer to her. She ripped the material that was left over from his mask and under shirt off of his neck so she could touch his bare skin. Inner Sakura stayed silent as if in complete shock of the events unfolding in front of her.

Kakashi had his hands on Sakura's waist, gripping the material of the dress so he could pull her into him as if she couldn't get close enough. He almost forced her mouth to open as he deepened the kiss, though she didn't complain at all. Her response was a slight moan that seemed to affect Kakashi more than it did her. He pulled at the cloth of her dress and reached one hand up roughly grip her thigh. It was more of a turn on than she realized it would be. She was just turned on by the fact that he was touching her after so long trying to avoid even hugging her. She instinctively lifted her leg up and wrapped it around his waist causing her hips to grind against his.

It was Kakashi's turn to groan as it came out almost like a low husky growl. It vibrated through his chest and throat as Sakura could feel it against her own chest. It was intoxicating. She moaned against his mouth again as she felt the warmth radiating from her core to the point it was driving her mad.

She wanted him. Right then. Right there.

He seemed to have the same idea as he drove her to the brink of insanity. He did seem to enjoy the little noises and moans she was making as his mouth moved along her jaw line down to her neck. He roughly bit her neck causing her to gasp and dig her short finger nails into his bare shoulders. She ground her hips against his again in retaliation causing another groan to vibrate through his body. She could feel his approval of this through the thin layer of his pants.

Kakashi reached down to Sakura's hips and gripped them tightly, thumbs fiddling with the hem of her panties. The sensation of his growling against her neck made her quiver. She could feel him gripping her underwear and with out a second though she reached down and began fumbling with the waist band of his uniform pants. He took that as the ok as he ripped her panties off with one swift movement.

She would normally be shocked by the fact that he seemed to be skilled with the panty ripping move, or angry that she now had no panties to wear after the fact, but at that moment she could care less as he hoisted her up into the air and leaned her up against the side of the cold rock.

In her state he could have been yelling, "Bonsai!" the entire time and she wouldn't have cared. The touch of the cool rock against her back and bare rump was nothing to the feeling of Kakashi positioning himself against her throbbing entrance.

His first thrust into her caused Sakura to gasp. The last time she was with anyone was- it was Kakashi, and that had been a few months before. So the feeling of him entering her was almost too much. She felt lightheaded with all the sensations that seemed to be going on at once and Kakashi didn't give his partner time to recover before thrusting again. She moaned, but it was muffled by his mouth covering hers again. He gripped her rear and pulled her from the wall as he lifted her up and down with arm strength alone as her legs wrapped tighter around his waist.

Sakura's hands tangled into his silver locks as she kissed him fiercely. His thrust became harder and faster as he groaned into Sakura's mouth. Just his low growls were almost enough to push her over the edge. She couldn't take it. She threw her head back and reached her hand behind her against the rock, using it to push herself harder against him. She felt like she was going to come undone at any moment.

Kakashi nipped at her collar bone as he pulled her leg higher behind him so he was touching the top of her knee high boot, making the angle just right so he could penetrate her just a little bit deeper. That was Sakura's last straw. She tightened her legs around him and gripped his hair as she gasped, shaking against his final thrusts. She lost her grip on the rock as they fell against it with a soft thud when Kakashi's knees buckled.

Kakashi buried his face into her neck and shuddered. His gripped tensed on her rump and leg as he released into her.

Sakura panted into the cold night, seeing her ragged breaths come out in puffs of hot air as she could also feel Kakashi's panting breaths on her neck. The only thing she could hear was their breathing as they leaned against the side of the rock in a tangled mess. She never thought that morning being mad at him for not speaking to her for a month that by that evening they would be literally tearing each other's clothes off. It hadn't taken much for them both to reach their goal, but going months with out anything could do that to a person. Especially after seeing a sight like Kakashi when he first exited the cave. That was all the foreplay she needed to be ready to go.

Sakura felt Kakashi's grip on her slacken as he slowly pulled out of her. Her legs dropped down so she was once again touching the ground as he distanced himself from her by a few feet. They quietly adjusted themselves and their clothing, not making eye contact. The cold air was finally making its self known by violating their pores now that the heat of the moment was over.

What had come over Kakashi? Sakura couldn't understand how the man could be so adamant about not being anything more than friends, then another moment his self control slips and he can't keep his hands off of her. The moment that just happened had nothing to do with the fact that she was pregnant. She didn't have to worry about that. If he got that way after a fight though, they needed to go on more high classed missions.

Sakura's face turned a little pink at that thought, even with what they had just done.

"I…" Kakashi looked slightly dizzy as he tried to concentrate on what he was saying. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow; it was hard to put a sentence together after going brain dead for so long. He hadn't realized just how sexually frustrated he had been, and now his body felt like he was going to pool on the ground like a pile of mush. His body swayed slightly as if he was drunk as he tried to continue his train of thought. "I didn't mean to…"

A howl caused them to go completely silent.

"Pakkun…" She whispered. She scanned the area noticing the small, ripped piece of material that had originally been her panties. She snatched it off the tree it was hanging off of and stuffed it into her chest bindings. Face flushed with embarrassment at the thought of the rest of her team seeing them.

Kakashi seemed to have the same idea as leaned down quickly and picked up the scrap of material that was left of his under shirt and mask, tying it around his face as a makeshift replacement. It would have to do. He now could sense the team closing in on them and he didn't want that night to be anymore eventful than it already had been.


	21. Eureka! Sakura's a Geek!

"Have you even gone to sleep yet? Or did you spend all night being a geek?" Naruto said brusquely as he poked at the many test tubes and plants surrounding Sakura's temporary desk in the green house.

"Well when I had a fresh sample of the poison I didn't want to go to bed and let it set over night. I was able to single out the antigen that was causing the antibiotics to do more damage than good. It turned out that the neurotoxin was really mutated endotoxin. They made it so that if you didn't do treatment the patient would die, but if you tried to use antibiotics and the antigen died it would cause it to release the endotoxin that was trapped inside of the peptidoglycan layer and cause more damage. Finding out that they did that I just had to figure out a way to isolate the antigen and filter it from the body with out killing it. I produced a serum that induces a temporary state of Chediak Higashi syndrome where the phagocytes attack the antigens but don't release them through exocytosis, because there aren't replicating in the blood stream the phagocytes won't burst from consuming too many and the patient will not be in danger. They will pass naturally through the urine-… Hey! I'm not a geek!" Sakura barked and punched Naruto in the arm. He just blinked at her. He had lost his place at the first time she said antigen.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that Sakura… so after all that ranting, you basically came up with a cure?"

"Yeah, I have an antidote. I've already sent it with the team and sent a message to Kayuki." She said sourly, a bit perturbed that her hard work was lost on Naruto.

"So we can go home and I can see Hinata?" He said, almost sounding a little giddy at the prospect. Sakura sighed, side glancing at the man in the corner who seemed to be staring more at his book than he was reading it. If he was anything like her, he was having a hard time concentrating on anything. She really had to make herself concentrate rather than day dream about their little escapade on the mountain side.

"Yeah, we are going home."

* * *

Kakashi hadn't turned a page in Icha Icha for over an hour. He just found a page where nothing sexual was going on, like Junko talking to an inn keeper, and focused on it. He didn't want to take a chance of his mind reminding him that he had an interesting encounter the night before.

The fact that when they returned to the village she woke up a small group of medical ninja and went straight to work meant he wasn't going to sleep either. Through it all he was still under orders never to leave her alone in public. He was her body guard, as Tsunade deemed it so. He had a few choice words he could have used to describe Tsunade at that moment. He knew that she must have had something like the night before in mind when she gave the order for him to stay by Sakura's side at all times.

He remembered hours before when the team found them. They were soon joined by three more four man squads.

* * *

Flash Back

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke ran passed Kakashi and grabbed Sakura; nearly flipping her over as they checked her for bruises, nicks, or scratches.

"I-I'm fine!" She laughed at their concern. It was sweet that they worried over her so much.

"It's freezing out here Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he bundled Sakura's found jacket around her like a blanket.

"I hadn't noticed…" She flicked her eyes over to Kakashi as he cleared his throat and walked to the side to where Pakkun was sitting by himself. "Woah!" She yelped as Naruto finished wrapping her up in her own coat and picked her up, threshold style.

"No arguments, Sakura." Sasuke said as he made sure the coat was completely covering her legs.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the two grown men babying Sakura as if she was four. He knew that she wanted to argue, but wouldn't because those two were as stubborn as she was.

"Kakashi." He looked down to see Pakkun giving him a knowing look. "I made sure to give you warning we were nearing so you could finish-"

"We weren't doing anything." Kakashi hissed out in a rushed whisper. Pakkun growled in a way it sounded like a laugh.

"The lust in the air was stronger than the smell of blood, Kakashi. Don't try to fool a dog."

"You can leave now Pakkun." Kakashi ground out, and Pakkun just kind of chuckled and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

End Flash Back

* * *

He had informed the squads the situation on the cave as they proceeded to stare at him in awe. He hadn't killed anyone unless it was completely necessary, but the entire population of the cave was not going anywhere any time soon. With that he dismissed team Kakashi and headed to the village. He hadn't the nerve to even make eye contact with the woman in Naruto's arms. She seemed to have dozed the entire trek back to the village as she clutched her bundled up lab coat to her chest.

He could only assume that is why she seemed to be a ball of energy the second she got into her lab in the green house. The last medical ninja had just left only a few minutes after Naruto showed up to drop off breakfast and to check up on Sakura.

Even now Kakashi had trouble not paying attention to her. She had showered, he had too thankfully, and she then changed into the green dress she seemed to love so much.

Did she have any idea that he was really fond of that dress? Did she know she was torturing him?

She would turn while working and now that it had been pointed out to him she was pregnant she took no measures in hiding it. The small swell in her midsection was not a turn off in the least. He was having a hard time staying angry as he watched her run back and forth through out the night around the assistants. The fact that she was pregnant with HIS child was mind blowing. It seemed to make her even more attractive in his eyes, which was not helping his situation. The only indication she was pregnant was her small stomach. She still had her long, toned legs that he seemed to be eyeing every time he thought she wasn't noticing.

There was also that small thing he noticed every time she leaned over to look into the microscope and her dress rode up just barely from behind, framing her rear.

He had just had his hands all over that the night before.

* * *

Naruto stopped mid sentence when Kakashi slipped from his spot leaning against the wall and hit a plant.

"…anyway-" Naruto continued as he slowly tore his eyes away from Kakashi fumbling to catch all the things he had knocked over."-I am going to head back to the house and start packing." Realization hit Kakashi like a ton of bricks. He was going to be alone with Sakura for the first time since their little… incident.

"Ah! W-Wait!" Kakashi choked out as he actually dropped the potted plant he had caught only moments before. Naruto blinked as he paused on his way toward the door. Sakura smirked, knowing the reason for Kakashi's outburst.

"Go ahead Naruto; you need to pack, seeing you always take the longest." Sakura directed her words toward Naruto, but never took her eyes off Kakashi. Naruto nodded, looking at the two as he slowly started for the door again. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sakura as he spoke.

"Stay Naruto." Naruto stopped at the door and looked at Kakashi glaring a Sakura.

"Go Naruto." Sakura said sharply.

"Stay."

"Go!"

"I am your team leader Naruto, and I said stay."

"I am your team medic and can choose not the heal you the next time you get clobbered. I say go!"

"Woah! Woah! I am not sticking around to be ammo. You guys figure this out on your own." Naruto almost threw himself out the door before they could say anything else. Sakura could only smirk. She won.

"Getting me alone still doesn't change the fact that you lied to me, Sakura."

"You gave me no reason not to."

"You should have told me the truth." Kakashi tried to not look at her as she walked up to him, only to stop mere inches from him. He felt dizzy being that close to her, but stared at the vegetation around him as if it were to most interesting thing in the world.

Sakura noticed the raw marks on his wrists; he wasn't wearing his usual gloves because they were probably painful. He was so protective of her even before he knew that she was pregnant. He ripped his wrists to ribbons trying to get out of the shackles to protect her. She smiled as she took his wrists into her hands. He winced a little but wasn't able to hide his surprised expression. A green aura radiated from her palms as she healed his wounds on his wrists. When she was finished he quickly pulled his hands away and mumbled a silent thank you as he backed away a little.

Sakura stared at him curiously as he still avoided eye contact.

"…What is up with you Kakashi? Last night you were ripping my clothes off, literally, now you can't even look at me. You can't tell me there is nothing there."

"I was not in my right mind; there were a lot of opponents in that cave." He made eye contact with her as he said it to prove a point. He felt himself slowly backing up again as she inched closer though. This did not deter her in the least.

"Afraid to touch me? Might have a repeat of last night?" Kakashi couldn't hide his stunned expression at Sakura's sudden vixen like demeanor. She knew what she was doing. She smirked again as she took a longer stride, causing him to stumble backward a little bit and bump into the side of the green house. He was had. "I think last night you showed me how you really feel."

Sakura's hand came up and gently tugged his mask down. She couldn't help but feel her chest flutter at the sight and the fact that she was able to pull his mask down. His expression looked almost frantic as he seemed to look around the room for an escape. She had to hold in a chuckle at how she could do this to him, yet he was one of the most feared shinobi in Konoha.

"It was the adrenaline from fighting. This isn't-"

Sakura didn't give him a chance to try and finish that thought when she leaned up just enough for their lips to touch in a soft kiss. His only reprisal to that was a moan that almost sounded like a whimper. He tried once again to distance himself from her. He gripped her shoulders gently and broke the kiss as he tried to continue his train of thought.

"We have to stop." Sakura leaned up bit his lip gently causing him to shudder and close his eyes. "We…can't..." He tried to say firmly, but his voice cracked as he said it giving him away completely. She took this chance to grip the back of the neck and pull him down into another kiss. He went to complete mush in her arms as he leaned into the kiss. He gripped either side of her rib cage as she pulled him down into her. His will power was shot after what had just happened the night before. His normal conscience seemed to be enjoying the intimate contact he was having with Sakura just as much as his subconscious was.

If this continued he was going to have her up against the wall for another bout of quick rough sex.

Kakashi knew he needed to stop, but his body was acting on its own. The fact that he caved so hard was because he had been denying himself any contact with this woman. He hadn't realized how much he truly wanted her. Her skin was so soft, she smelled so good, she tasted so sweet. The way she moaned and couldn't stop kissing him drove him crazy. Her strength, her laugh, her kindness, her temper… the way she looked at him and smiled when she was happy.

He wanted Sakura, more than he realized. He wanted her more than in a sexual way; he couldn't stop kissing her and just being so close to her because he realized he wanted all of her.

He couldn't stop just touching her, even though he knew he had to stop. His hands slipped down her ribs, he was gripping her so tightly that he could feel her chest bindings under her dress. He stopped when he touched her stomach gently. She gasped and he felt why. The baby kicked again.

This is why he needed to stop.

Kakashi had to use every ounce of his being to tear himself away from Sakura even though she didn't prevent him from doing so. He was breathing hard and so was she as he stared at her.

"We can't do this." He said, still panting from their recent spell of boisterous kissing. Her hands were resting on her stomach as she stared at him. It took everything he had to separate from her and it was still taking everything to not go right back to what they had been doing. She was so beautiful. She never thought so, but he had been noticing just how beautiful she was for the passed few months.

"Tell me you don't love me and I will leave you be. I will raise this child on my own." She said it softly, but never broke eye contact. His heart ached and it was almost impossible to keep his eyes on hers.

"I can't love you." His said as his gaze dropped to the ground. He wouldn't let this go any farther. He knew he couldn't be with her; she would end up getting hurt. So would the child. He was being selfish by continuously succumbing to his desires. He needed to stop leading her on.

"You still haven't answered my question." She grumbled at him.

"We can't be together."

"Why?" Kakashi did a double take at the woman as she continued to keep a steady gaze on him.

"I am not getting into this with you, Sakura." Kakashi could feel his shoulders tense again.

"You never get into this with me, Kakashi."

"I wish you would listen to me, I already told you what I want." He snapped.

"I would listen if I actually believed that is what you want!" She snapped right back. Her anger faltered as she yelped at the tickling feeling of the baby kicking again. The realization of what she had been through the passed few months hit Kakashi hard. The trip there and the fact he pushed her so hard in her condition made guilt eat away at him. The long hours in the lab, the extra shifts in the hospital, the fight that broke out on the ship on the way there. What if she had lost the baby?

When she passed out during the fight earlier the day before, he remembered being disappointed in her for that. He hadn't realized that she had been pregnant. What if something had happened to her?

He wasn't even with her and he was hurting her.

"I do not love you. I only care for you as my friend."

"Then what was the other night?"

"Another mistake."

* * *

"I'm going to miss you Sakura, you have to send me pictures when the little one is born." Tougi said as he carried her pack to the sled. Sakura smiled as she followed him. She gave him a big hug after he put her pack on the sled.

"Of course. You keep in touch too." Tougi leaned down and patted Sakura's stomach.

"You be a good baby for your mommy now." Sakura squeaked as the baby kicked, making Tougi cheer. "He's going to be strong!"

"Naruto!" Sakura said cheerfully as he walked down the stairs of the porch. "Come here! He's kicking!" She laughed as he dropped his things and scrambled frantically over to Sakura. She took his hand and placed it by Tougi's.

"Aw! It's a baby!" Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "Just wait till you come out! Uncle Naruto is going to take you out to ramen and teach you how to use Rasengan. Don't be afraid of your Uncle Sasuke, his face is always like that." As if on queue Sasuke turned to Naruto as he packed his sled and gave him a sour look. Sakura giggled as the two men touching her stomach chattered happily to it. Naruto had deemed himself Uncle the second he found out Kakashi knew about the baby. She was touched that Sasuke unknowingly in a conversation with Naruto referred to himself as Uncle Sasuke. She was on a constant high that two of her best guy friends were excited about the prospect of her having a child.

"You want to feel him kick Sasuke? He is all about it. I think he is going to be a soccer player." Sakura asked and Sasuke chuckled but shook his head.

"I want the first baby I feel kick to be my son." Sakura smiled and touched her mouth.

"That is so sweet." She said, a little teary eyed. Naruto chuckled.

"You are so obvious when it comes to Ino, Sasuke. Anyway, you're missing out. This little guy is a ball of energy. Not lazy like his fath-"

"Lets head out." Naruto turned blue as he was cut off by Kakashi's deep, serious voice. The two men by Sakura stood up and removed their hands from her stomach. Sakura seemed to take a demeanor that she could care less Kakashi was in the vicinity as she walked over to Sasuke's sled and sat down in it. Sasuke and Naruto gave each other knowing looks again. This was going to be a long trip.


	22. Home is where your Heart and stuff is

Sakura looked up and beamed at the sight of Konoha's gates. It was the most comforting thing she had seen in months. The flurries of snow floated through the air, and in her path, but they were more decoration and lightly dusted the ground. Nothing like the snow country when she had to pull out her snow shoes to keep up with her team.

"Are you sure you are ok walking Sakura-chan?" Sakura smiled at Naruto sweetly. He and Sasuke had been constantly asking if she was ok the entire trek home. It made her smile every time.

"Naruto, you're being silly. The gates are just up ahead, I am perfectly fine." Sakura's smile dimmed a little when she noticed Kakashi didn't look up from his book.

Sakura managed to conveniently place Naruto in-between her and Kakashi as they continued to walk down the path. Familiar faces brightened and waved at them as they left the village or busied themselves around the outskirts of the village; some of them glanced curiously at Sakura's stomach as she made her way to the front gates. Her big baggy black coat had been retired half way home because of the hell it had been through. It was looking a bit rough, and there was no need to hide the fact that she was pregnant, so she settled for pink hooded jacket and scarf. She almost giddy to wear something that didn't feel like it was four times too big.

Glancing down, Sakura couldn't believe how much she had grown just in the passed few weeks. When she wasn't walking she couldn't see her toes. This fascinated her immensely. That and the little guy seemed to like kicking, especially when she was trying to sleep. He would wait till the worst possible moment and decide it was time to kick mommy. He was going to be just like his father, she could tell by his awful sense of timing.

Figures, she thought as her mind wondered back to Kakashi. He had been silent and reserved the whole trip. The same way he had been on the way to the snow country. The pain eating away at her heart crept it's way into her expression. He truly wanted nothing to do with her. At this point she feared for their friendship.

Sasuke noticed Sakura's mood shift and decided to change the subject.

"Well I told Ino we would be home today or tomorrow in the letter I sent before we left, so you should go see her while we check in with Tsunade-" Sasuke was cut off by a squeal.

"Sasuke!" They all turned to see Ino bouncing near the entrance in a powder blue coat and matching knit cap. She started to jog as fast as she could toward them, but Sasuke sprinted over to her at the gates before she could get to the rest of the group.

"Ino?! What are you doing out here? It's cold-"

"I'm fine; Izumo and Kotetsu gave me hot chocolate." The two friends sitting in their booth waved and said, "Oi," in unison. Sasuke couldn't hide the slightly disgruntled look on his face as he stared at the pair. He turned back to his wife at the sound of her slurping on her drink. She smiled so big it reached her eyes as she held the drink up to him. "Want some?"

That was when Sasuke broke. She had some foam from the drink on her upper lip and she looked so cute with her little blue hat that it made him realize just how much he missed his wife. His adorable Ino; who was very pregnant and was waiting out in the cold to see him the second he made it back home. Before he knew it he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

Izumo, Kotetsu and Sakura had matching looks of shock of Sasuke's public display of affection. Kakashi blinked, actually tearing his eyes away from his book. Naruto just guffawed and crossed his arms.

"About damn time he acknowledged his wife in public." Sakura swatted at Naruto for his comment. Sasuke leaned back and smirked a little at a blushing Ino as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"You had some chocolate on your lip." Ino's blush deepened as she stuttered.

"S-Sasuke…" His smirk turned into a small genuine smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Let's get you out of the cold." Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the rest of his team. "You guys ok with going to the Hokage Tower with out me?"

"Go for it, dude!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up and Sakura smiled at Ino.

"I will see you later." Ino nodded and smiled back.

"See you." She waved as she turned to face the other two. "So it looks like we are heading to the tower-"

"Nope." Izumo said as he walked to Sakura. "I have been ordered by Lady Tsunade to have one of your teammates escort you back to your home. You are officially on strict maternity leave."

"What?! I'm only five months!"

"Hokage's orders."

* * *

Silently Sakura cursed Naruto. She loved the man like a brother, she would do anything for him, but right then she could beat him.

The first sight of Hinata and he left Sakura to the wolves. She remembered when he followed her around with eyes like that. She didn't miss it; she loved the relationship they had now. Though now she was stuck with a silent Kakashi escorting her home.

Every time she was alone with this man, something happened. The last time she was alone with him they got into some heavy petting that ended with his comment of their time together being a mistake. The time before that…

Sakura couldn't help but feel light headed at the thought of Kakashi the night outside of the cave.

"Why is it a mistake?" She said bluntly as they neared the Uchiha complex. He almost tripped at her words.

"W-What?"

"Why is everything a mistake? Why can't we be together?"

"Sakura. Not again." Kakashi ruffled his hair out of exasperation.

"You never give me a reason Kakashi! You always just dodge the subject and tell me we can only be friends. Why?"

"Because we can't."

"Why?"

"Because."

"WHY." She said, more like a demand now.

"Because Sakura! A lot of reasons! Age, I used to be your teacher, I'm still your team leader-"

"Those are all crap reasons, Kakashi! It hasn't stopped us twice now."

"There is nothing there except physical attraction Sakura. Sex does not equal love." Sakura turned away from him and started walking away.

"Is that all I was to you Kakashi?"

"…What can I say Sakura? I'm a dirty old man. I have nothing to offer."

"You're right Kakashi… " She stopped but didn't turn around. "…I will take care of this baby. You don't have to worry about it being a bother." She started walking again, a little faster than she had been before. "You should go and check in with Tsunade, I can walk the rest of the way by myself." With that she continued on her way with out acknowledging him again.

It's exactly what Kakashi was trying for, but not what he wanted.

Sakura had finally given up.

* * *

"My best medic is pregnant and out of commission for months. This in turn makes one of my best teams out of commission. All because of you." Tsunade said, making sure a smirk did not reach her lips.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Kakashi said miserably. He could tell she was enjoying this.

"What happened to assuring me you two were just friends?"

"We are… we were… we just… well you see…" Kakashi stumbled over his explanation. Tsunade quirked an eyebrow, then just waved him off.

"Well I know Sasuke is going to request short solo missions till his child is born, and Naruto will want to stay close till Hinata and him are married…which leaves you. Is this why you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." He was a grown man, but he felt like he was being scolded for something childish. "I have a request."

"Yes Kakashi?"

"I am putting a request to rejoin Anbu… temporarily of course."

"Can I ask your reasoning behind this request?"

"You can ask, but it doesn't mean I will answer."

Tsunade sighed and dropped back into her chair.

"I normally discourage future fathers from joining Anbu, seeing how dangerous and difficult the missions are-"

"I am fully aware of the danger involved with Anbu missions." Tsunade eyed Kakashi silently for a while. His lazy gaze didn't falter as she stared at him. She could only hope his reasoning for wanting to put on the Anbu uniform again was to benefit his future child financially.

"I will grant your request. Only temporarily though. When ALL the members of team Kakashi are fit to start missions again you are no longer an Anbu."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

* * *

It was times like these that Sakura could use a drink. She didn't think the baby would appreciate it too much though.

So she just sat down in her living room, not bothering to turn on the light or the heat. Her house felt like she did. She just wanted to sit there and wallow in her feelings for a while. The first step to moving on was to wallow.

Hurt, anger, sadness, betrayal…

The fact that she felt completely stupid that she believed that Kakashi could ever love her didn't help her mood any either. She did everything but kill their friendship to prove that she was extraordinary enough to persuade the forever bachelor. She had been pretty stupid for the passed few months, now she was feeling the consequences.

She was knocked up, single, and depressed. What a combo to deal with after being chained to the village, unable to leave for missions till the baby was born.

Well it gave her plenty of time to get her life in order and to start prepping for being a single mother… at twenty. Well she was going to twenty-one by the time the baby was born. So there was a silver lining…. If you could call it that.

Yeah, she had the wallowing part down at least.


	23. Alakazam! A baby with out Mr Ukki's help

Sakura stood in Kakashi's room, staring at his shuriken comforter. It had settled and looked like it had been untouched for months.

That was because it had been untouched for months.

Kakashi had been sleeping at Anbu headquarters.

He hadn't been coming to Sunday dinners either. Poor Naruto and Sasuke didn't know what to do the first one he missed. Sakura just broke down and started sobbing on his empty chair. Now she only stared at it sadly. It still looked a little pathetic, but at least it was better than sobbing on unoccupied furniture.

She was so wrong about his feelings. He really had nothing to offer as far as a romantic companion. Now he wasn't even offering his friendship. Her heart had already been breaking over the being in love with the man, but the fresh break was over losing her best friend.

Sakura sighed as she placed her hands on top of her large stomach. She knew Kakashi was only going to stay in Anbu until they were all back in commission, she knew that because of this she and the others couldn't acknowledge his presence even if they passed the familiar wolf mask and silver mop on the street. She knew that was why he couldn't attend Sunday dinners, but it hurt all the same.

The fact that she had to learn this information from her Shishou, that she hadn't seen him since the day she left him on the street, that she was now over eight months pregnant and he had yet to be there to see any development of their child hurt her too.

"Sakura, you said you just had to get the stupid plant. Can we go now? How organized everything is in his house is weirding me out a bit." Ino said as she waddled into the room. Sakura laughed and shuffled over to pick up Kakashi's plant, Mr. Ukki. "So explain to me the reasoning for stealing Kakashi's almost dead plant."

"Well, for one the poor thing needs water and sunlight. And two…" She looked down at the pitiful excuse for a plant. The plant also seemed to miss Kakashi's attention. She really wondered if she was a plant at that moment if she would resemble the one she was currently holding. "Kakashi won't be there when I have the baby, so I want something of his to be there…"

"Oh Sakura…" Ino looked at Sakura sympathetically, but Sakura smiled brightly as she shuffled over to Ino.

"Don't look at me like that, Ino. It's been months, him being away has helped me get over him. We can try to go back to friends again when he gets back. I just needed time to fall out of love with him, and I have…" She looked more intently at the plant as she stroked one of it's pitiful looking leaves. Her voice perked up as she changed the subject. "I even have a date to Naruto and Hinata's wedding… after the baby is born and I get back into shape of course. It's only a friendly date, but it's a step in the right direction."

"Who's it with?"

"Genma."

"Genma?!" Ino's face was priceless. Sakura laughed and patted her shoulder.

"Come on! I know he's a bit of a womanizer, but he's also our friend."

"As long as he doesn't get fresh with you… I guess I'm ok with it."

"Thank you, mother."

"Well, you're stuck with me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Ino smirked and Sakura only smiled sweetly at her. She pulled Kakashi's blanket off the bed and folded it under her arm as made her way to the front door. "I think I'm going to take his comforter and wash it."

"That would be nice of you; the thing needs to be aired out before he sleeps on it again any way. This whole house needs to be dusted too. I know he is currently an Anbu man, but he needs to check up on his house… and his chil-"

"Don't be bitter Ino; I know where this is going." Sakura said as they both stepped out of the front porch. Ino put her hands on her hips and gave Sakura a grouchy look.

"I'll drop it… for now." Sakura gave her a warning glance as she once again changed the subject.

"Let me drop this stuff off at my house and let's go see how the clinic is doing. I have been dying to do rounds and see how things are going with out one of us there."

* * *

"Shit…" Kakashi whispered from the tree outside his house. He peered at the two women conversing in his bedroom through the eye holes in his Anbu mask.

She was stealing his plant. He liked that plant. It was like a ninja in it's own way. It endured with out sunlight and water while he was gone. Maybe it was a mutant or an alien plant. There were so many times it should have died for how long he neglected it.

Any way, that was not the point. The point was he was coming to water it before his mission and that woman was stealing it. This meant he was going to have to conveniently notice it one day so she didn't know that he had been spying on her. Something he caught himself doing a lot of recently. Spying on Sakura that is.

He would catch himself sitting outside any window she was closest to. Just watching her be herself. Sakura didn't need to act a certain way to get his attention; she did it by just being Sakura. He couldn't help but feel the urge to keep tabs on her well being during the passed few months. She was very pregnant now, and this was going to be the last time he saw her before the baby was born. He had watched her doing her exercises that same morning, but this was a chance last glimpse of Sakura before he left for his last long Anbu mission.

He knew as soon as the team was back together his feelings for her would all have to stop. He would stick to that decision this time though. No more slip ups. For now though, he enjoyed watching her look happy. It only took him disappearing to do it.

Now Sakura was taking his favorite comforter. He watched as she tugged it off his bed and folded it underneath her arm.

"Gah!... damn you Sakura…first the plant…now the blanket…"

He watched miserably as they left the room and began to make their way out of HIS house.

He may not be there, but it was still his… damn it.

Maybe he could conveniently notice his plant in her home when he inquired about his missing blanket.

* * *

"What's going on?!" Sakura demanded as the entire emergency clinic seemed to be in complete chaos the second they entered. Ino grabbed one of the medics whizzing by her and forced him to stop.

"Why is everybody rushing around like this?"

"A-An Anbu team has just been brought in… They are in critical condition ma'am."

"Sakura!" Ino cried as she let the boy go and started to shuffle down the hall after her. Sakura had started rushing down the hall the second she heard Anbu because she saw a gurney and a glimpse of the signature gray uniform disappear into an operating room. "You don't know if it's him! In our condition we would just get in the way-"

"I can't lose him! Not now… I've lost too much already-"

"Sakura! Calm down, this isn't good for you or the baby…" Sakura froze outside of the doors leading to the operating room and stared at them silently.

"I know… I said I didn't… but…" She stayed silent as she continued to stare straight ahead. "You have to look. I can't look…" Ino watched her friend as she jerked, trying to contain herself from breaking down right there.

Without another moment's hesitation Ino stood on her toes and peeked into the operating room.

"It's a raccoon mask… not a wolf." Ino said quietly and Sakura immediately covered her face with her hands. A sob echoed through the now deathly silent clinic as Sakura sank down to her knees.

"I want him back…" She started to hyperventilate as she tried to swallow back sobs. "I can't take this not knowing… I don't even care if he never speaks to me again. I…" Her eyes went wide as she looked down to the floor. "M-My water…broke… Ino?! My water broke!"

"Shit!" Ino looked around the abandoned hall way of the emergency clinic. "Uh… Stay here! I will get help that isn't operating on some one."

"Don't leave me Ino!" Sakura cried as she grabbed her friends arm.

"Sakura! Be reasonable! I am in no condition to deliver a baby, especially if there is something wrong with him being early-"

"Something's wrong with my baby?!"

"N-No! Don't be silly! I just need to get you some place better than the hallway. Now stay here, I WILL be right back." Ino pulled herself from Sakura's grip and ran as fast as a full term pregnant woman could.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke seemed to mimic each other as they paced in the waiting room, leaving the chairs for the rest of the worried visitors. They consisted of shinobi who weren't on missions like Hinata who stood also and watched the doors of the delivery room anxiously as she fiddled with the hem on her jacket, Ten Ten, Lee, Shizune, and a few very silent Anbu standing in the corner.

Ino knew the Anbu were Yamato and Sai, they just happened to be coming to check on their injured comrades when Sakura went into labor. Yamato was the one who carried Sakura to the actual hospital, Ino would be eternally grateful for that. He was enough of a friend to drop his Anbu act and scoop her up with out even being asked. Even Sai seemed a little worried, and for him that was a great feat.

Ino looked up quickly when the door to the delivery room opened to reveal Tsunade. Ino quickly stood up and walked as fast as she could to Tsunade.

"How is she?" Ino asked quietly as Tsunade shut the door behind her. She looked around and maneuvered Ino away from the waiting room so they could speak privately.

"She's in a lot of pain, more than usual. Everything looks fine; I don't know why she is struggling. I have her resting in between contractions with a mild sedative until she is fully dilated. I don't think it would be safe to try and stop the contractions. She is so close to full term that it would be harmful to the baby to stop the delivery now." Tsunade sighed as she pulled down her paper mask.

"Is something wrong? You look worried."

"She is progressing unusually fast for a first pregnancy so she is probably going to need to start pushing soon. I don't know if she has it in her though. She just seemed so upset when she arrived and the pain is draining her strength. The baby is fine, but giving birth is not an easy task. She needs to be one hundred percent or she is going to have a hell of a time… if she doesn't improve we might have to skip a natural child birth."

"Is Kakashi still in the village?" Tsunade did a double take at Ino's change of subject.

"You know I can't divulge that to you-"

"You're the Hokage, Shishou. If anyone can, you can. This is why Sakura is upset. If he's here she will still be stressed, but she will improve."

Tsunade sighed and glanced over to the two men who were previously pacing. They were now standing a few feet away trying to nonchalantly listen in on their conversation. They weren't doing a good job at looking oblivious.

"Naruto. He should be heading for the front gates. Go find him."

* * *

"Ookami, you're late." One of the masked men waiting at the doors of the Anbu headquarters said as a Kakashi walked up in all his Anbu glory. His wolf mask in place meant he was currently not Kakashi, but his code name Ookami.

"Forgive me, old habits die hard." He knew they probably looked a little disgruntled behind their masks. "How long we are going to be gone, this is probably going to be my last mission with Anbu; had to get some personal things in order."

"Well you are our commander, can't really leave with out you." The other two masked faces nodded in agreement with the female Anbu's statement as they walked passed Kakashi, toward the front gates.

He could see why his team always got so annoyed by his mask. It was hard to read someone when their face was covered. Kakashi just sighed and turned to follow his temporary team mates. He missed the comfortable, family like atmosphere he felt with his team. Even when things were awkward between him and Sakura it wasn't this uncomfortable… well, at least the other two spoke with him. They had a groove that took a lot of heart ache and near death experiences to create. They were a team that meshed.

This was not a team that meshed.

The only female was named Usako by her superiors but it suited her in more ways than one. She was very attractive with her dark burgundy hair and dark blue eyes, she was in very good shape as well, but in a village of ninja it was almost hard to find some one NOT in shape.

She was not his type at all. Though she seemed keen on the idea of bagging him, and according to the other two team mates that was her goal with every male team leader. She was trying to be promoted.

This was very odd for an Anbu member. Most of them dedicated their life to just becoming one of the elite. Honor and discipline seemed to go hand and hand with the Anbu name. Not with this girl though. He could only guess she had a very rich and powerful family, and a few tricks up her sleeve to be sporting the Anbu tattoo and uniform with her skills. Sakura could fold this woman in half.

Kakashi quickly changed his train of thought.

The other two members of his squad were… well… the other two members of his squad.

Kuro and Shima were the typical emotionless Anbu soldiers. Kakashi had yet to distinguish who was who. He only knew that was their code names. He couldn't believe he used to be one of them by watching these two. They were beyond skilled, very dedicated, but lacking in the personality department. He always seemed to amuse himself by watching them do an everyday routine like brushing their teeth or eating. They did the same movements at the same time as if they were marching together. They would even turn to look at him at the same time with the same blank but confused stare as he chuckled. This only made his chuckling worse.

All in all he had a decent team, with exception of Usako of course. The only thing was he didn't feel comfortable with this group. Not like he did with Team Kakashi. It was almost dangerous how comfortable he was with his team, he knew he always needed to be on guard, but he knew they always had his back.

This team didn't… well Usako did, but in a different way entirely.

This team would only do what duty called for and that was it.

"Was I really like this?..." He mumbled to himself aloud. Usako turned, he couldn't tell her expression through the mask but he guessed it was curiosity.

"Ookami-kun? Did you say anything?"

"U-Uh… no. Just thinking out loud Usako-san."

"Kakashi!" Kakashi jerked a little. Who was talking to him in his Anbu uniform? It sounded like Naruto.

Eveyone knew that it was forbidden to use an Anbu's real name while in uniform. He just shook his head and kept walking with his team. He couldn't acknowledge Naruto at the moment or he would give up his identity to his temporary team. That was Tsunade's only stipulation, not to let them know who he was.

"Kakashi! It's Sakura! She's in labor!" Kakashi froze and turned slowly. He could see Naruto down the street looking a little perturbed he didn't answer him the first time.

Sakura was in labor. Shit.

"I am going to have to prolong our leaving time a little longer." With that he left his Anbu team and sprinted down the street after Naruto.

* * *

Sakura was starting to rethink this whole having a baby thing.

She just lay there, floating in and out of consciousness from the drugs Tsunade gave her. It still hurt a lot when she had a contraction, but the small cat naps she caught in between them made them a little more bearable. That was until they were too close together for her to relax enough to fall asleep between each one.

Minutes seemed to pass every time she closed her eyes, and before she knew it she felt some one grasp her hand. She looked up to see Ino smiling down at her.

"…Hi Pig." Ino smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Hi Forehead…" Sakura smiled lazily at her. "You and I are going to have some words later. You get pregnant after me and get to have your baby before me. Here I'm stuck with being over due."

"Well you know me… always did my homework early, why not do the same with all aspects of my life..." Ino laughed gently and set Sakura's hand down on the blanket.

"You ready to have a baby?"

"I guess, too late to change my mind-" Sakura hissed and gripped the blankets tightly as a contraction hit her. It was awful, and all she could do was try to breathe and count until it faded. When her body relaxed again she leaned back into her pillow again and squeezed her eyes shut. She was already exhausted. How was she going to do this? "I…I forgot Mr. Ukki…" Sakura whispered as she felt some one take her hand once again.

"I don't think he'll mind sitting this one out." Sakura's eyes fluttered open when she heard a familiar deep voice. Kakashi smiled down at her through the material of his mask, his Anbu wolf mask pushed up so she could see his face. Well the part not covered by his normal mask anyway.

"Kakashi…" Sakura said, her voice was shaky as if she was about to cry again. She closed her eyes and relaxed into her pillows. "I can't do this, I am too tired…"

"That's not the Sakura I know. Come on, open your eyes. I need you wide awake now." Kakashi whispered gently as he stroked her cheek with his other hand. Sakura's eyes watered as she looked up at him again. "None of that now, I'm here. Come on… get up. The Sakura I know is tougher than this."

"The Sakura you know isn't eight months pregnant and in labor!" She yelled suddenly and sat straight up in the hospital bed nearly snarling at him.

She huffed slightly at him. Kakashi merely laughed.

"There she is…" Sakura eyes widened in shock as Kakashi pulled down his mask in front of a completely awe struck Ino and kissed her forehead. "You're going to be fine. You need to save your energy for having this kid. So beating me to a pulp is out of the question." He chuckled as he pulled his mask back up.

Sakura squeezed Kakashi's hand slightly and smiled at him.

"Just stay with me."

* * *

All she asked was for him to stay with her. He did. Through the entire birthing process. When the baby was born he knew it would be better if he just left, but he lingered. It was late, but he couldn't stop himself from waiting outside of the maternity ward by the window peering in at all the newborns. He stared contently at one crib in particular.

Six pounds eight ounces, all of his fingers and toes, completely healthy Obito Sakumo Hatake. His son. He had a son. Something he never thought he would have, but there he was. Completely tuckered out and sleeping soundly, but healthy.

Sakura had already filled out the paper work before she even started trying to deliver the little guy. She wanted him to have his last name, if anyone was still curious who the father was it would be a little more than obvious now.

She knew her boy was going to be just fine, that was why she had the papers already filled out. It must have been a mother's intuition. Only Sakura would name a boy after the two men that influenced his life the most.

Though he couldn't help but feel over whelming pride looking at HIS son. He had a son and he was beautiful. He couldn't stop reveling in it.

Kakashi couldn't stay though. He had a mission to do and a decision to stick by. If he stayed any longer he would start to back track. He would be a part of his son's life, but not in the conventional way. Things were getting more complicated by the day.

"Damn you Sakura…" He whispered with no ill feeling behind it. If Sakura wasn't hard enough not to love, now he had a son that was the cutest thing he had ever seen. The Gods were playing a cruel joke on him, they must have been. To spend time with his boy he would have to be near the woman he adored but couldn't let himself be with.

"He has your hair." Kakashi turned to see Tsunade leaning against the window beside him. "Just a little wild tuft of white hair. The nurses couldn't help but notice it won't stay flat. He is definitely your boy." Kakashi nodded but stayed silent for a while. Tsunade just watched him as he had an inner conflict. He finally tore his gaze away from his son again and turned to walk away. "You don't have to run from a chance of having a family, you know. You have a chance to be happy and to be loved. Not many shinobi get that chance, Kakashi."

"I can't take it." Tsunade stared at his back as he continued. "I can't take the chance of Sakura going through what my mother went through."

"Stop trying to carry Sakumo's guilt with you. He wouldn't have wanted that. You are not your father, Kakashi."

"…That's why I can't be with her." With that he took his leave, not waiting around to hear anything else Tsunade might have to say. It was hard enough without being preached to.

He lowered his wolf mask and made his way toward the exit.


	24. Smashed Heart in a Night Gown

Sakura sat up slowly in the hospital bed she was in and yawned. She had slept off the drugs she was given for the delivery, and her God send of a Shishou had healed her almost completely. Other than her body feeling like she had she run a marathon and the slight off balance feeling of the remnants of the drugs in her system, she was ready to get out of the hospital. Only a medical ninja could go into labor, have a baby, and then be completely healed and ready to go in one day. It was one of the perks of the not so glamorous profession.

Though she still felt like she had been run over by a train.

Sakura scooted a little and slid off the bed. She grasped the robe hanging on the back of her door and stepped out of the room as she wrapped it around her. The waiting room was silent; it must be later than she had thought.

She slowly padded across the floor toward the where the newborns slept. She was so out of it when Obito was born she hadn't gotten to see him without being doped up. Though she was surprised when she rounded the corner to see Tsunade standing by the window.

"Shishou? What are you doing here?" Tsunade turned and smiled at Sakura.

"I was just talking to… somebody. Anyway, you should be asleep. With a newborn on your hands you are going to need all the sleep you can get."

Sakura knew Tsunade too well. She was changing the subject because she was hiding something.

"Who were you talking to Shishou?" Sakura said bluntly. Tsunade gave Sakura a disgruntled look then sighed.

"I was talking to Kakashi- Sakura!" She called as Sakura started to sprint down the hall. "He left a while ago! He's already-" The door down the hall closed and Tsunade only sighed again. "-gone."

* * *

Usako yawned as she walked beside Shima and Kuro. Kakashi stayed silent as they walked toward the gates for take two of their mission.

The team wasn't thrilled to be leaving this late in the night, but he needed to get out of the village. Nothing like risking your life to clear your mind.

They knew who he was now too, which made things a little more awkward. Usako seemed a little more adamant on her hinting and flirting also. This did not bode well for the upcoming mission. It looked like he was going to have to watch his ass in more ways than one.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the fireflies float in the air as they reached the gate of the village. He couldn't help the sudden loneliness that crept up on him as they began their trek down the path. He was getting a little annoyed with the voice that told him it was for the best. Why was it for the best again?

The only image that came to mind was his mother's face when his father died. That was enough to keep him away from Sakura. He didn't want his son to lose both of his parents.

Even if it made him feel more depressed than ever, he found his resolve in that thought. If he kept avoiding a relationship with Sakura she would get tired of trying-

"Kakashi! Wait!" Kakashi turned without thinking about it. He saw Sakura running passed the gates toward him in nothing but a night gown and a robe. She paused for a second in front of him so she could catch her breath before looking up at his wolf mask covered face. "I know…" She panted again. "I know I said I would never bring it up again, but… I want to be with you and I want to raise our son together. I don't want to be with you because we have a son, but because you are my best friend and one of the greatest men I have ever met. I want to spend my life with you and no one else. I was so stupid before for not telling you about the baby, for jumping to conclusions and not listening to you. I know your reasons for being afraid of being a father." She smiled a little as she continued. "I want to be there for you though, as more than just a friend... because I love you…truly love you."

There was silence as Kakashi didn't even breathe. His mind was completely blank as he stared at Sakura silently. Had she just said all of that? Trying to make this woman say she was wrong was like pulling teeth. She had just called her self stupid to top it off.

"Kakashi… say something. Am I not strong enough? Is it because I'm not pretty enough? Is it me at all? It can't just be physical attraction, because that wasn't what it was for me." Sakura urged him to speak, and Kakashi's mind seemed to start working again. Only one thing came to him though.

Do not waver. Stick to your decision.

"…You know my answer, Sakura. I will not repeat myself." Kakashi said blandly, causing Sakura to flinch and stare at him wide eyed. He winced behind his mask but it did not show anywhere else on his body. He turned so he didn't have to see Sakura's hurt face and started to lead his shocked team forward again. "Let's move out."

"…Ka…kashi…" Sakura whispered at his retreating back. She was getting so good at laying her heart out to him so he could smash it. Repeatedly. His indifference was what hurt the most. She completely opened up to him, just to get slapped in the face.

Sakura sank to her knees as fresh tears formed in her eyes. She began to be racked with sobs as soon as the Anbu team disappeared from sight. She couldn't stop her self from crying no matter how many times she tried to take deep breaths and calm her self. The sobs and tears wouldn't stop coming.

She had never felt so foolish.

* * *

Sakura reached her arms out eagerly as the nurse handed her Obito. Her face broke out into a wide smiled as she snuggled him to her chest.

"So you're the one who's been kicking me at the worst possible moments..." She whispered to him as she kissed his forehead. She had to admit that the white fluff on his scalp was endearing even if she was currently mad at the cause of it. She was just happy the little guy was perfectly healthy after the hell she put herself through the first half of the pregnancy.

Sakura looked up and smiled to see Naruto and Hinata entering the room quietly.

"Hey guys."

"We came to see how momma and the little guy are doing." Naruto said cheerfully as he walked to Sakura's side.

"You guys just missed Sasuke and a still very pregnant Ino. She was hoping me going into labor would cause her to go into labor too. Sasuke got his time of awkward baby holding in too." They both laughed as Naruto leaned to see Obito better. He looked down at him and chuckled. "Yeah, he's Kakashi's alright. Can I hold him?"

"Of course! You're his Uncle." Sakura said sweetly as she carefully handed Obito to him. Naruto held the baby like a natural. He looked at the baby and chuckled at his lazy, tired expression.

"He isn't even a day old and he already has the Kakashi expression down. Except we are going to teach you how to tell time, aren't we kid?" Sakura and Hinata laughed as Naruto continued to talk to the baby.

Hinata took this chance to sit next to Sakura and smile shyly at her.

"Sakura-san…I wanted to ask you something…" Sakura turned to Hinata and smiled.

"Go for it Hinata, I'm all ears."

"Well… I wanted to let you know, I have always admired and respected you. I know how much Naruto cares for you. You have always been so kind to me and you are one of the best female friends I have ever had so I wanted to ask you if… if you would be my maid of honor…if you wouldn't mind."

Sakura stared at Hinata blankly for a few seconds. She never knew the girl respected her that much. She loved Hinata to death; she was honored that Hinata thought so highly of her.

"That is so sweet… are you sure you want me, a new mom, to be your maid of honor? I won't be much fun-"

"It would mean the world to me Sakura-san. You know me; I don't need any extravagant parties or anything. I would just love for you to back me up on the important day."

"I will be there with bells on." Sakura said as she leaned forward and pulled a surprised Hinata into a big hug. Just then the nurse returned and carefully took the baby from a very put out Naruto.

"I'm sorry Naruto-san, but it's feeding time." Sakura snickered as Naruto's ears turned pink.

"Oh come on Naruto, it's nothing you haven't seen before. When you've seen one pair you've seen them all." She smirked as Hinata turned pink also. "Or you can just say it's prepping you for when you and Hinata have one of your own."

Sakura was getting a little too much enjoyment out of her friends' embarrassment.


	25. Charity Case at a Wedding

_Sakura…._

Kakashi sat up after finally giving up on any chance of sleep that night. The fire crackled slightly as it started to go out. It would be dawn in a few hours so there was no point in trying to get anymore rest. It had been a three month long mission, all of his bandages and wounds showed that, and they were finally mere hours from home.

He hated to admit it to himself, but he had been pushing himself and his team hard to make it home. He missed Sakura, and he wanted to see how much his son had grown in just a few months. It was thoughts like that that had gotten him so banged up in the first place. He was exhausted and in pretty bad shape from the mission. He didn't like hospitals, but he knew he needed stitches for a couple of his wounds. Especially the very fresh knife wound in his shoulder. He highly doubted Sakura would want to patch him up in the comfort of his own home.

There was the fact that she would probably annihilate him if he tried to be friendly with the way he had treated her. It would probably take Sakura more time to even accept him as a close friend again. He was really cold to her when he left the village, but…

Kakashi could not come up with an excuse for being THAT cold. At the time it was the only thing he could think of. Some genius he was, he thought bitterly.

"Ookami-kun?" Kakashi turned to see that Usako had left her post duty to stand next to him. She wasn't wearing her mask and was gazing down at him curiously.

"Yes Usako-san?"

"There has been something I wanted to ask since we left the village."

Gods, here it came. He was just waiting for it…

"What's that?"

"Are you really THE Hatake Kakashi?" Kakashi sighed. It wasn't what he was expecting her to ask, but it was still troublesome. It was too late to cover his tracks now. How many Kakashi's lived in Konoha anyway?

"Yes-"

"Really?! Wow!- oh…" She quickly hushed her voice back down to a whisper to make sure not to wake the other two of their team. Kakashi eyed her warily as she smiled sweetly at him. "I remember hearing stories about you when I was in school."

"That's nice…" Kakashi tried to not to let the sarcasm drip from his voice. Why didn't she just say, _"You are OLD."_

"I can't believe I'm on this team with you, it's a dream come true."

"Yeah, dream come true. Too bad I am going to be leaving after this mission to go back to my team." Kakashi said, pulling off the fake smiling eye crease perfectly. He honestly was happy to be leaving Anbu. He had made plenty of money in the passed six months, and that was all he was in it for.

"You know…" Usako said, her voice getting a little husky as she spoke. "That is too bad. You could stay, if you wanted to, couldn't you?" She leaned into him a little bit causing Kakashi's mind to come to a screeching halt. He had been waiting for her major move on him that he hadn't actually thought about how he was going to deal with it. He also didn't think he would be a partial cripple at the time either. "I could make it worth while, staying on this team I mean…" She leaned into him even more, conveniently pushing her breast into his arm.

"I have a team already, Usako-san." He tried to emphasize the 'san' that he added to her name. She giggled and stroked his masked jaw line.

"I'm sure the offer to stay on this one is much more… attractive than returning to a formerly knocked up medic and being straddled with a baby that probably isn't even yours. I saw how you treated her; you want nothing to do with her. Why return to a team with a needy woman like that?" Her seduction routine wasn't working, though he froze in shock and stared at her, causing her to believe it was. She raised her face to his as she reached up with both hands, gently gripping his mask in the tips of her fingers.

She flinched when Kakashi's hands shot up and gripped her wrists tightly, causing her to release his mask.

"What's wrong?" Usako asked, but Kakashi furrowed his brow and glared at her.

"I don't know what impression you have of me, but it must be the wrong one. The only person who is allowed to take this mask off is Sakura."

"The medic?!"

"MY medic. Who is on MY team." Usako stared at him as he released her wrists.

"I don't get it… You rush off to see her when she is in labor, and then leave her in a heap at the village's gates, and now she is all of a sudden the only one with 'special privileges' with you." Kakashi was silent as Usako spoke; he was even tired of running the reasons why he couldn't be with Sakura through his mind. It was becoming almost a silent chant the entire length of his mission. She was all he thought about, and he was becoming bitter at the same monotonous verses he had down for why he couldn't be with her. The main one being that he didn't want to do the same thing his father did…

"If she is so great, and that really is your kid, then why did you dump her at the gate?"

Kakashi flinched a little. Realization struck him when Usako said that. He wasn't dead, he wasn't committing seppuku, but he was still putting Sakura through the same thing his father put his mother through.

"I'm more like my father than I thought..."

"What?" Usako asked quietly, but Kakashi just shook his head.

"Nothing… wake the others up, we aren't far from the village. If we leave now we can make it there a little after midday."

* * *

"I'm so sorry ; you won't have to watch Obito all the time. Just today Ino and I are bridesmaids, Sasuke is a groomsman, Naruto is getting married and Tsunade is officiating…"

"Don't you worry, sweetie. I have this watching grandchildren thing down. Obito is such a good baby too. I'm sure he will be perfectly good during the ceremony." Ino's mother cooed at Obito, which caused him to break out into a wide smile and giggle at her in reply. Sakura smiled and ran her hand through her son's fluffy white hair. It puffed out in odd directions just like his father's, and the notion that he was going to look like his father warmed her heart.

She had a beautiful boy, and she cherished him. Ino's mother was right about him being a good baby. He hardly ever cried, and always slept through the night. He was silent and took in his surroundings when he was in his stroller, as if imprinting every detail to memory. He was a little odd, but Sakura was proud that her son already seemed to be a little genius.

"I'm sorry we are late mom!" Ino said as she dashed into the door. "I will see you at the wedding; we just have to be there early to get ready." She said as Sasuke strode into the house behind her with a baby in his arms.

"You guys get going and I'll meet you all there. I've got these two." Ino grinned as she leaned down and kissed the baby's cheek in Sasuke's arms.

"You be a good girl for Grandma, Mikoto." Ino said sweetly to her.

Sasuke smirked a little at his daughter as he gently placed her in the crib next to Ino's mother. He unconsciously stroked the tiny black curls framing Mikoto's face as she smiled sweetly up at him.

"Be a good girl, Miko-chan." Ino smiled as she took Sasuke's hand in her own.

"Time to go, Sasuke."

"-Right…" Sasuke cleared his throat a little and tried to wipe the small smile off his face as he turned with Ino and headed for the door. Sakura smiled at the couple as they left the house.

_***Flash back***_

He was a little shocked; did Sakura just say it was a girl?

"You have a beautiful baby girl! Awww… look at her!" Sakura said as she took her back from Ino so she could clean her up and wrap her in a blanket. "You really had us going there little one, we were expecting a boy." Sakura said in a baby voice as she bundled her up in a pink blanket.

Sasuke was expecting a son. How could he continue his clan with out a son? He could only stand there in shock as Sakura walked up to him with his daughter.

"She is beautiful Sasuke, you can still have a son, but you can't get your first moments with your first born back if you blow it by being bummed she isn't a boy." Sakura whispered so quietly that Ino didn't hear her. She gently handed the baby over to a stunned Sasuke. He hadn't expected something like that to come out of Sakura, but ever since she had dove into the responsibilities of being a single mother she seemed to get a little more wise and empathetic. Sasuke looked down to see the little face staring groggily up at him. He reached to touch her hand and she gripped onto his pinky gently.

Sasuke was had at that moment.

Sakura wish she had a picture of the big dopey smile Sasuke had on his face when he looked down at the tiny pink bundle. He didn't look like the moody, brooding Sasuke she remembered as a young girl. He looked so happy he could have burst. He just let the little one grip his pinky as he continued to stare at her. The cheeriness on his face rivaled Naruto's at that moment.

"Mikoto…" Sasuke whispered. "I want her to be named Mikoto, after my mother."

_***End Flash Back***_

Obito blinked up at his mother and cooed quietly, breaking her from the memory of Mikoto's birth. She smiled once again and kissed his cheek.

"Aunt Ino is going to watch you this afternoon; I have a shift at the hospital tonight. I will pick you up tomorrow morning, Obi-chan."

"It's so cute when you talk to him like he understands." Ino's mother smiled and Sakura laughed.

"I think in an odd way he does understand."

* * *

Kakashi hated being hurt so badly it affected his motor skills. He didn't look very stealthy as he made his way to the top of the hill over looking Naruto's wedding. He didn't care though. He was thrilled he had gotten there in enough to watch the ceremony take place.

It was the first time he had even seen Naruto look so calm and serious without being in a fight. Well, Naruto was never calm in a fight.

Naruto just looked sincere the entire ceremony, and Hinata looked like a woman. Not the shy girl she used to be, but the beautiful woman she had become.

Kakashi couldn't help but shift his attention to the bridesmaids, well, one in particular.

Sakura looked like she had before she got pregnant, no, better. Her hair was longer and in loose curls framing her face. The long lavender dress she was wearing was form fitting enough to show she had definitely been determined enough to get back into shape. Though she hadn't really gained much weight while being pregnant so it must not have been that hard.

He had to fight the urge to walk down the hill to see her during the entire ceremony. He wanted to talk to her, touch her, and just be in her vicinity. Though in his condition it wouldn't be a good idea. He didn't think a head wound would be a good idea to add to all his other injuries. He needed time to decide what he was going to say.

That's the conclusion he came to right when the wedding ended and everyone began to slowly scatter. His eyes followed Sakura as she walked over to Ino's mother.

Kakashi hadn't realized that he stopped breathing when Sakura picked up their child.

"Obito…" He mumbled. Their baby really did have his hair. Poor kid, he thought with a smile on his face as he watched Sakura twirl Obito and talk to him.

That could be his family. No, that was his family. He hated fighting his feelings for Sakura. He was tired of it and it was affecting him so much he was going to get himself killed if he kept being a stubborn ass about it.

He wanted to cave. He wanted to be with Sakura. It was taking more effort to stay away than it would to just be with her.

When did he fall so hard for Sakura?

He didn't know when, but he knew it would be more than a little obvious now as he caught himself literally growling at the sight of Genma draping his arm around her shoulders. The man was his friend, but he was treading in dangerous territory.

He knew he had no right to be jealous and angry.

He had put Sakura through so much, he had only just come to the conclusion that not being with her was putting them through more hell than he had realized, and there was the fact he believed jealousy was a useless emotion.

Though when Sakura smiled sweetly at Genma he could think of nothing more wonderful than beating his sebon wielding friend into a pulp in the middle of Naruto and Hinata's wedding reception.

This was not going to do. If he hobbled up to her in his condition he would look like a charity case. He needed to convince her he was serious and he also had to be very careful with what his said to her after the last encounter they had. He remembered his previous thought about really not wanting anymore injuries.

He just needed a few days to heal a little and he would attempt to start getting on her good side from there. Sakura could be a frightening woman when she wanted to be, a few days in hiding might give her time to cool after finding out he had returned to the village.


	26. Deja Vu in the ICU

Kakashi slowly made his way down the street toward the hospital. He was exhausted. Completely and utterly spent. It was taking all of his energy to stay vertical as he stumbled along. The fact that it started raining about a half an hour before hand wasn't helping.

Lack of blood? The fact he knew he had more than one broken bone? Pushing himself to get back to Konoha without a decent night's rest?

Old age? He couldn't help but smirk bitterly at that thought.

He didn't know why he was struggling just to make it to the hospital, but ever since he left the wedding his stamina had been dropping faster than a new born giraffe.

He didn't think much of it till he finally lost his balance and dropped to his knees clumsily. He now noticed his breathing was becoming labored. Thinking something was wrong was a little obvious. His vision was becoming blurry, and he knew if he passed out in the state he was in he would be in serious trouble.

He pawed at his side pouch until his summoning scroll fell out and rolled across the ground. Dropping to all fours quickly bit down on his thumb and smeared the blood across the scroll as he propped himself up on his elbows to make the hand signals awkwardly.

In a large puff of smoke his entire pack of dog-nin appeared. Pakkun leapt down from Bull's head with a soft snort.

"You always like to summon us in abysmal weather, Kakashi… Kakashi?" Pakkun took a few steps toward him when he noticed the forced, wheezing breaths.

"Pakkun-… get help." With that Kakashi checked out. Face first into the cold mud, water splashing onto his face from the hard falling rain. Pakkun had to get closer to be able to sniff Kakashi through the rain. Pakkun snorted out the scent as if it was foul.

Poison. From his scent it had plenty of time to set in.

"Kakashi, you moron! These are things you should notice!" The little pug turned toward the rest of the pack. "Take him to the Clinic, it's closer. I will meet you there." With that he sped off down the street through the rain. He needed to find one of two people, and through this rain their scent was going to be near impossible to find.

* * *

Sakura leaned down and helped Ino finish wringing out Hinata's dress.

"The heaven's cry at weddings too, apparently." Tsunade chuckled as she shook out her coat from under the reception tent.

"I knew these tents were a good idea." Naruto said as he threw an arm around his new wife's shoulders. She beamed and leaned into him.

"Most of the guests have run away. I'm glad your mom already took the kids home, Ino." Sakura said over her shoulder before turning her attention back to the deserted, rain drenched field. "For a village of Shinobi, you would think a little rain wouldn't bother them so bad."

"More than likely worried about their hair." Sasuke said with an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"Like you have any room to talk about hair Sasuke!" Sasuke gave Naruto a dirty look.

"It's your wedding day, so I'll let that slide." Naruto got a sly smile as if Sasuke had given him permission to insult him for the rest of the night.

"Well, you know Sasuke, for the longest time I thought you had to be ga-"

"Is that Pakkun!?" Ino said, cutting Naruto off before he could go on a tirade of insults.

Sakura's head whipped around to where Ino was point and she could see the small pug racing toward them across the flooded field.

"Pakkun!" Sakura called as she opened her arms for the little pug to jump up into her chest. He shivered slightly as she wrapped the shawl around him. "What are you doing here, Pakkun?"

"Sakura, it's Kakashi…"

* * *

Was she going to have to go through this again? Lose some one so dear to her that a piece of her goes with them? If it wasn't for Kakashi, she wouldn't have been able to bounce back like she did from losing her parents. Did he think he was going to leave her too? Not give Obito the chance to grow up knowing how wonderful his father was?

She would be damned!

She was a stampede the entire way to the clinic, and she nearly kicked the doors down as she approached them. She was instantly being followed by a team of medics, nurses and Ino sprinted to keep up as she kept Pakkun snuggly to her chest like an infant. He didn't look too thrilled with the fact he was being babied, but he knew this was not the time to complain.

"Haruno-san, we have prepped all the solutions that you asked for and they are in the room next to the patient."

When Sakura's hand touched the door though to the ICU, the fury inside her subsided as she had the same empty feeling grow inside her she felt when she stood outside of her parents' hospital room. The medic just called him a patient, as if he was just another faceless person they treated every day.

_He wasn't just another faceless patient though..._

The night with her parents the nurses and medics looked at her questioningly, just as they were doing now. Could they not understand that it was unnerving to know that it was in your hands whether one of the people you loved survived?

Sakura felt Ino's hand on her shoulder and she took a deep breath. Without another thought, she pushed the doors open to the ICU.


	27. Conversations with the Dead

"Come on!!!" Sakura yelled hoarsely at Kakashi's limp form. He had stopped squirming and fighting off the medics, which scared Sakura. She was now doing passes through his blood stream, filtering out the poison and he no longer had the strength to fight because of the pain. The medics hovered, but just rested their hands on him, knowing he wasn't going to be thrashing around anymore.

Sakura could feel his heart beat growing faint with every pass as if she was doing more damage by filtering his blood. She dropped her hands so they were resting on his shoulders and stopped what she was doing. She stood there in silence and just stared down at his form. His breathing was shallow, and he was a dull, pale gray. How could this be the same man that was outside of the cave that night? The man she had known all these years to be so powerful, almost untouchable.

Everyone in the room stared at her, as if afraid to breathe or she would shatter.

He always endured, and now she was staring at a shell that's spark seemed to be fading.

"Sakura… I think…" Ino started as she reached for her. She flinched when Sakura turned and glared at her.

"Shut up… and get out."

"Wha-"

"I said GET OUT!!!" Sakura roared and the entire room emptied, leaving her alone with Kakashi. When the door shut behind them she crumpled onto the table and partially onto of Kakashi's chest. "Oh God… please Kakashi. I can't do this alone anymore. Please… please…" She pushed herself up and took his face into her hands and pulled down his mask, she kissed him as tears began to stream down her face. "God… please… PLEASE KAKASHI!" She dropped onto his chest again and sobbed so violently that it shook him also. Her muffled sobs echoed in the empty ICU for what felt like an eternity to her. What was this going to do? She had done everything she could, and now she felt so helpless. Was she cursed to be powerless to help the ones she loved?

"Kakashi… come on, open your eyes…" The quiet beep of the heart monitor was the only thing she could hear. She reached up and took his large gloved hand in her own. "Don't leave me…"

Nothing. His eyes never opened; he didn't squeeze her hand or even twitch at the sound of her voice.

Sakura never remembered his hand being so cold.

* * *

Hatake…

Sakura traced the Kanji on the tomb. She had been visiting this place a lot lately. Just carrying on conversations with the cold tomb surface. People more than likely thought she was crazy the way she spoke to it sometimes as if it was some one over for tea.

"Your son… has grown up well. He's strong, stubborn, and definitely has the Hatake clan hair…" Sakura chuckled sadly. "You would be so proud of him and what he has become; I wish you could see him."

She caught herself tracing the kanji again.

"I have to admit that it's the stubborn streak that has saved his life on more than one occasion. Like last week, he should have died with how much poison we took out of him. Such a dumbass! If he died and left your grandson without a father I would be sure to plant the ugliest flowers I could find on his grave. No offense to you Sakumo-sama… but I don't want Obito getting the same complexes Kakashi has… like I said, no offense" Sakura cleared her throat and side glanced at the tomb, feeling a little guilty going on her rant. She took a deep breath and sighed as she stood up and laid the flowers she had been holding in her lap on the Hatake family tomb. She had been making it a habit to visit this tomb when she visited her parents' tomb once a week.

"I'll bring Obito by next time; this was just an impromptu visit." Sakura said over her shoulder as lingered a little, just continuing to stare at the tomb. With a heavy sigh she turned completely and started to leave.

* * *

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes, wincing from how intense the light was coming from the window.

"Greangh….urf…" Was all he could say as he began patting around on the table next to him, praying that there was a glass of water nearby. He felt some one grasp his hand and make him take a glass of what he prayed was water. Without a second thought he pulled down the hospital mask that was in place of his cloth one and gulped down the chilled water as if it was the elixir of life.

"Woah there, Kakashi. This is the second time I've seen your face. Starting to lose its Unicorn like properties." Ino said, smirking slightly.

"What are you doing here?" He rasped out through gulps of water.

"Well Sakura was starting to reek and pulling double shifts of watching Obito then watching you be a lump, she needed some sleep. She wouldn't leave unless I promised to check on you from time to time. So… here I am. Good thing to, you nearly killed Mr. Ukki with your flailing."

"How long-"

"Were you out? About a week, you bum. You're lucky; Tsunade has a gaggle of medical-nin working on you every day. Other than a few really stiff muscles and weakness from being bed ridden, you should be one hundred percent in a few days. Though, you pull a stunt like that again I'm sure Sakura will make it so you are permanently stuck at eighty five percent." Ino said as she folded a blanket that had been tossed carelessly over the chair in his room.

"…Where's Obito?" Kakashi's voice was sincere and soft, which surprised her coming out of Kakashi. She paused in folding the blanket and looked back at him. His stare was steady, and he looked eager to hear about his son.

"You really love them, don't you?" Kakashi's eyes darted to the side; as if unsure he should be pouring his heart out to Ino of all people, though her very blunt question caught him off guard. Another thing Ino was not used to seeing from Kakashi, shyness.

"You're changing the subject-"

"Oh! Cut the bull shit Kakashi! You are being an idiot!" She nearly growled and shoved a finger in his face, causing him to lean back and go slightly cross eyed staring at her finger waving in his face. "Forehead might be a handful and a bit loud and obnoxious, maybe a little man-ish too sometimes, but she loves you and you have a great kid! What is your problem!?" Kakashi stared at Ino with one eyebrow quirked. She and Sakura could rival each other's snarkiness.

"You sure know how to point out your friend's good qualities-"

"Stop being a smart ass! That's it; I'm going to get your chart to do your check up." She grumbled and left the room in a huff. The nurses at the nursing station flinched and looked like they were fighting their fight or flight instincts when Ino snatched the chart from the pile.

When she threw the door open to the hospital room, the window was open and Kakashi was gone.

"Good, he took the hint."

* * *

Sakura slowly walked through the cemetery, taking her time to enjoy the scenery. She paused when the wind picked up the autumn leaves began to float around the path she was walking on. Leaves were falling; glowing just like embers in the sunlight in vibrant red, yellow and orange. The only sound was the rustling of leaves and the soft howl of the wind through the crypts and tombs. It was so peaceful, through all the chaos and not knowing if Kakashi was going to survive, this was a moment she needed to feel centered again.

Until an unusual swirl of leaves appeared in front of her, causing her to stumble backwards. When the wind died down she was staring at a freshly washed, clothed, and of course- aloof looking as ever, Kakashi. He raised his hand in his normal greeting.

"Yo."

"Wha-…" Words seemed to be lost to her as they stared at each other. What was she supposed to say to him? She had rehearsed it in her mind repeatedly. Now she was drawing a blank. He began speaking in a cheerful voice, with his happy eye crease.

"Would have been here sooner, though a week of sponge baths didn't agree with my delicate skin. Then there was that sweet old lady who needed help with crossing the street, and then another black cat crossed-"

"Kakashi!" Sakura hissed and glared at him. She almost smiled at him for being his old self. His old OLD self; the way he was before their son entered the picture. Though she caught herself and stomped on that feeling. "After the past year you can really just stand there and be like this!?"

"Yeah." He answered, eye crease never leaving his face. She made a sound that resembled an exasperated snort and brushed passed him.

"I have had enough stress because of you this past week… Hell! The past year more like it! I have to go pick up my son." She grumbled and began walking away. The nerve of him just showing up, though… she smiled inwardly in relief at the fact he was up and seemed perfectly healthy. Well, until she could hear the shuffle on his feet as he followed her.

"I can hear you following me."

"Not trying to hide the fact that I'm following you."

"I don't know what you're pulling, but I'm ignoring you."

"I'm ok with that for now. I deserve it."

Sakura bit her tongue, what was he getting at? Her mind was flooded with questions as he continued to just casually walk behind her. Why was he following her? What did he mean by, 'for now'? What did he mean he deserved it?

"I know you better than that, Sakura. You are being eaten alive by questions, but you are being stubborn and not asking me anything because-" Sakura didn't even hint that she was listening to him so he continued. "-you are ignoring me."

This made her square her shoulders and she seemed to march with determination away from him. He sighed and began what he set out to do.

"I know… " He watched as she slowed just a hair so she could listen better. " You said you would never bring it up again. But, I want to be with you and I want to raise our son together." Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. This is what she said the night he left. He had really listened to her? "I don't want to be with you because we have a son, but because you are my best friend and one of the greatest women I have ever met. I want to spend my life with you and no one else. I was so stupid before for not telling you how I felt before, AND for constantly pushing you away and not listening to you. I know it is a lot to ask for forgiveness, but… I DO want to be there for you though, as more than just a friend. If you will still have me."

Sakura could only stand there and stare in complete shock at the path in front of her. She was on the verge of tears as she tried to hold her breath so not to let on. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes.

"Please…" She could hear the pleading in his voice. It took everything she had not to turn around.

"You know what I went through? Can you even understand how alone I felt to be pregnant and the man I loved didn't want me or his child that I was carrying? You can't just pop up after all of that and say you're ready to, "Give it a go." because you decided you are interested now. I don't know your feelings; I can't afford to take chances now that I have Obito." With that she continued down the path. She said her piece. She was content with that.

Until she heard him shuffling behind her again.

"Really!?-" She yelled and turned around to see one of Kakashi's Dog-nin, Bull, looking very surprised at her outburst. She stared at him blankly, very confused. Bull just cocked his head to the side, curious why she was staring at him. "…What?" She said as she turned back around to be nose to nose with an unmasked Kakashi. "Can't ignore me now, can you?" He smiled at her and she gave him a sour look.

"You're an asshole!" She yelled as she smacked his shoulder. He blinked as she continued to slap his shoulder. "You disappear for three months!-"

"Sakura."

" Now you pop out of nowhere and start playing games with me!?-"

"Sakura."

"I have more important shit to do than to go back and forth with you again!-"

"Sakura!"

"WHAT?!What do you want from me!? Huh!?"

"SAKURA!!!"

"You're stupid!...jerk…" With that she started sobbing and her slaps lost their fury. She didn't know why, but freaking out on him and then sobbing like a two year old seemed like the best course of action. "You scared me so much when you were in the ICU. I realized I wouldn't have recovered if I lost you… I feel so deeply for you and you just seem to breeze by, not caring-" Sakura's eyes widened as Kakashi leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't full of lust or urgency, yet it wasn't chaste. It was comfortable, sweet, as if it was expressing a feeling. He leaned back and stroked her cheek gently, using his thumb to brush a few tears left on her face and as stared at him in complete shock.

"I love you, I am not going anywhere."

Sakura blinked at him dumbly before croaking out, "...really?"

"Really." He said through a grin.

"You're not going to change your mind in an hour-"

"Sakura." Kakashi tried to say her name with the most sincerity he could muster without sounding exasperated. He knew he deserved every ounce of her doubt, but he needed time to prove himself.

"Ok ok…" Sakura half smiled a little up at him. She looked down and took his large hand with her smaller one. The action made her heart flutter a little. This was actually happening. "Why don't we discuss it more after we pick up our son?"

Kakashi smiled so big that she couldn't help but smile brightly back.


	28. Epilogues are made of Lollipops and Win

"It's ridiculous. I don't know if I can handle it anymore. Every mission… EVERY mission. Even ones that last about twenty-four hours. This has gone on for years, can't you do SOMETHING about it? Anything?! It is so awkward trying to sleep when I can hear them in the other room..."

"Sasuke…" Naruto sighed and leaned back in his chair. Sasuke couldn't even see the chair from Naruto's long billowing, orange robes splayed across the armrests. "I'm Hokage now, what do you expect me to do? I'm not even on the team anymore."

"That's my point! You're Hokage, make it a rule or a something."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to make a rule against Shinobi and Kunoichi having sex during missions? Our population would plummet. Most of our ranks were conceived on missions, Sasuke." Sasuke gave Naruto a disgruntled look as he tapped on the Hokage's desk.

"What about just pink and silver haired Shinobi?"

"…Sasuke, that is the dumbest idea you have ever had. This coming from me who has had his share of dumb ideas. Let's change the subject- how are the kids?"

"Well Fugaku is just now getting into the Academy. Ino had a hard time letting her youngest go, but he has been harassing the two of us about going since he turned six. I won't lie and say I'm not proud of him for being accepted so young. The twins are still a handful... I think they keep switching names just to mess with me and their mother. I know Hikaru has the freckle on her right big toe, and Hikari has the scar on her knee... but they know they fool me if I'm constantly looking down. Mikoto is excelling in school, one of the best in her class and if she would stop obsessing over Obito she might even have the potential to activate her Sharingan soon…" Sasuke sighed and leaned back into his chair. "She's only ten, her sisters are only eight and they are-"

"Completely crazy over Obito? Yeah, at least he isn't your apprentice. Awesome kid; has already started using Rasengan, but every time he comes over to train I suddenly have every girl in the village beating down our door. Kuchina doesn't seem to care that he's over though. She's only nine and I guess I'm safe because she's such a tomboy or that she is so focused on becoming a medical ninja she seems to not have time for boys. Her and Sakura are actually working on ways she can use her Byakugan for medical jutsu." He leaned forward in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I think Kuchina just sees Obito as a friend, which makes me extremely thankful since he is apparently the Sasuke of the next generation." Naruto laughed at the dirty look Sasuke gave him.

"You are lucky. What is going to happen to Fugaku and I when the girls become teenagers?"

"May God have mercy on your soul..." Naruto couldn't help but laugh at Sasuke's misfortune. "Any way, I am going to meet up with Tsunade at the hospital and we are going to head toward your house for Sunday dinner."

"I might just join you since we are pretty much heading the same way. Speaking of Tsunade- how is she taking to being the hospital administrator?"

"She loves it, especially now she has the freedom to start training medical ninja in mass quantities. I honestly think that's why she turned the Hokage seat over to me before she was old and decrepit."

"Well you never know with that illusion thing she has going…" They both shuddered at the thought of Tsunade dropping the illusion. With that last thought Sasuke stood up. "We better make it to dinner soon though, poor Hinata was being grilled by Ino about when she is going to have another baby. I think she could use the back up. " Naruto hung his head a little in dread as he got up from his chair.

"With Hinata teaching now, her and I barely have time to eat let alone get… personal time together." Sasuke snickered as he walked to the door.

"Personal time? You've become so PC even behind closed doors, Hokage-sama." Sasuke ducked just in time to dodge a paper weight. He stood back up and held the door open for a very grumpy looking Naruto, his long orange robes billowing behind him. "Did I ever tell you that those robes make you look like a giant pumpkin?"

"Kiss my ass!"

"There's the foul mouth I remember!"

* * *

"Dad... I am starving."

"Mmmm?..." Kakashi looked up from a very worn out looking orange book to see a slightly annoyed looking ten year old boy. His silver hair seemed to mirror his mood, slightly agitated, as it swayed in the slight breeze. He kept his gaze steady toward his father. "Obito... you know your mother would slaughter us both if we spoiled our dinner. We can eat as soon as she gets here. Besides, she wants to celebrate you making Chuunin. She hates that we were away on a mission during your exam."

" Hnn...." Obito seemed to hum his response. He unintentionally copied Kakashi's stance and expression, though his face wasn't half covered, as they both looked down the street expecting Sakura to appear at any moment. They were standing in the middle of the road in the Uchiha complex waiting for her to arrive. His bright green eyes shifted to the side to rest on Kakashi's book. "I think Mom would be more pissed off about you reading porn."

"Nice language, kid."

"Says my father, who I might add is reading porn in front of his ten year old son."

"You've killed people, I think you know by now where babies come from..."

"Sadly I do, no matter how many times Naruto-san tries to convince me it's from the Sears catalog." Kakashi chuckled at that comment as he shut his book and pushed it into the front pocket of his vest. Obito smirked, but it fell a little as he went back to watching the street. "Really, what is taking her so long? I thought Ino-san was cooking this week, what could she be getting?"

"She said she had some errands to run-"

"DADDY!" Kakashi would have dropped his book if he had been holding it still. A little girl that was only his mid thigh in height squealed and was sprinting toward him from inside the nearest house, with a very disgruntled looking Ino chasing after her.

"She woke up from her nap and I accidentally let it slip you guys were home-"

"DADDY!!!" Ino was drown out by the little girl's squealing, and Kakashi had to completely turn around just in time to catch her as she launched herself at him.

"Woah! Hanako! Some one has a case of the wiggles." Hanako was still squealing in delight as she practically was crawling all over Kakashi. Her bright, bubble gum pink hair clashing terribly with his silver. It was all Kakashi could do to just make sure he didn't drop her as she babbled at him and went through his pockets.

"You may feel special, but she does that almost every time I come home too." Obito said, standing on his toes as if he would be able to see Sakura sooner when she came down the street by doing so. "I have to wrestle my kunai out of her hands almost every day. I put them in different pockets all the time, but she still finds them- OH!" Ino caught up to them just as Obito made a noise of excitement, but let out a sigh of disappointment when he realized none of the people coming into view were who he was looking for.

Hinata walked down the street, followed by a gaggle of chattering girls and one exasperated looking boy.

"Hinata! You're early!" Ino exclaimed as she hugged her tightly. Hinata smiled sweetly as the girls quieted down behind her. "Your daughters were on their way home from school so I thought I would join them on the walk home. I also wanted to tell you how well Fugaku did on his shadow clones today..." With this the boy behind the girls perked up and beamed proudly. He looked exactly like Sasuke, but his smile was way to bright and cheery to be seen on Sasuke's face.

The girls began to chatter again and he seemed to fade behind all the girls who were a good head or two taller than him. Hanako seemed to be excited with all the girls chattering and began chirping like a bird at them from on top of her father's head. Obito saw Fugaku's face fall slightly as we went back pushing rocks around on the ground with his sandals. Kakashi looked at Obito, and Obito nodded in silent agreement.

"Oi, Fugaku... why don't we go see how good your target practice has gotten?" Fugaku looked up at Obito, his smile came back with a vengeance.

"Really?!" He said as he ran over to Obito.

"Yes really, I heard from Hinata you're the best in your year." He threw his arm around the smaller boy and began to escort him to the house's backyard.

"Mom!" Ino seemed to be accosted by three female brunettes at once as they all gripped her apron. Three sets of pleading, blue eyes stared at her. "Can we go watch Obito?"

Ino sighed and rolled her eyes. She knew her mother told her that was going to have a daughter just like herself one day, just three times worse... but this was ridiculously accurate.

"Sure... but stay quiet and let Fugaku enjoy his time with him. He looks up to him and doesn't need his limited time with him taken away with you girl's swooning." With that the girls turned a little pink but ran after them to the backyard too. Ino looked at Hinata and the peeked behind her. "Where's Kuchina?"

"She has been getting permission to leave school early to go join medical ninja classes Tsunade teaches at the hospital. She actually wanted to ask you about volunteering at the clinic on the weekends..." Hinata and Ino migrated inside the house and continued their conversation, leaving Kakashi alone on the street with a much calmer Hanako on his head. He looked up at her just as she looked down at him, her pink curls falling forward as she stared at him with her brilliant green eyes. She chirped a few times at him like she had at the girls and he laughed out loud.

"You are the most unusual, but wonderful daughter a guy could ask for. Don't go boy crazy on me, ok?"

"Ok Daddy." She said cheerfully and handed him a kunai that looked suspiciously like one of his.

"How does she do that!? She gets things out of my pockets all the time..." Kakashi looked down to see Naruto staring at Hanako in disbelief. Hanako squealed in delight and launched herself at Tsunade, who had been speaking with Sasuke behind Naruto before dropping into position to catch the small squealing girl.

"Nade'! Nade'!" Tsunade seemed to have much more skill in keeping the girl in her arms and not crawling all over her as she went into the house with her.

"I'll take her into and clean her up for dinner." She said, making funny faces at Hanako. The girl was cackling at each one.

"Yeah, it should be done soon. Ino just went inside with Hinata-"

"Ack!" Naruto said and sprinted inside after Tsunade. Sasuke laughed and sprinted after him, calling loudly.

"Just tell Ino you don't have enough personal time with Hinata, I'm sure she would understand."

Kakashi blinked lazily, a little confused on what just happened.

"They seem to get crazier with age-" Kakashi turned quickly to see Sakura smiling over to a young girl with long blonde hair."-no offense, Kuchina." Kuchina laughed and looked at the door way with her pale blue eyes.

"None taken Hatake-san, I think it makes life interesting having a dad like that." Sakura smiled and gave the girl next to her a one armed hug.

"Call me Sakura, I used to help change your diapers." Kuchina seemed at a loss for words, so Sakura took her chance and stepped up to Kakashi. "Well hello there! What is such a good looking guy like yourself doing all alone in the middle of the street?" She smiled slyly and draped her arms around his neck. He smirked under his mask and leaned forward till their foreheads were touching.

"I was waiting on my wife to get home. You actually surprised me." She chuckled a little but kept her forehead on his.

"Well, I am a ninja. We kind of have cool tricks like that." There was a loud scream and what sounded like a herd of elephants coming from inside of the house. This was shortly followed by Fugaku sprinting out the door, laughing and singing.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!! First comes Love-!!!" Mikoto, Hikaru, Hikari and a very amused Obito came running out after him.

"You shut your mouth Fugaku!!!!" Screamed Mikoto as the trio of girls sprinted after their little brother.

"Run boy! Run for your life!" Obito called after him, gripping his side from laughing so hard. He sat up straight and saw his parents hadn't moved a muscle and just rolled his eyes, still laughing a little.

"Hi mom, Hi-..." Obito stumbled over his words when he noticed it was Kuchina. She was laughing as watched the girls chase their brother all around the street. She turned and smiled brightly at Obito.

"Hi Obito, congratulations on passing your Chuunin exam! That's awesome!" She stepped up and nudged him with her elbow in an encouraging manner. He flushed a little at this and shifted his eyes away from her gaze.

"It's no big deal, really..." She continued to talk to him as she entered, and he followed her with out a second thought.

"I need to step up my game or if I want to be your medic when we become Jounin, need some one there to piece you back together if you get dismembered in the field." She laughed at cheerfully at this as the disappeared out of view.

Sakura giggled after listening to her son and Kuchina's exchange. She gave Kakashi a quick peck on his masked lips before she started to walk inside too.

"I better go in and help Ino set the table." Kakashi watched her walk up the stairs and smiled.

"Hey Sakura?" She stopped and turned to look at him. Despite all of the chaos, it seemed peaceful just watching the slight breeze playing with his hair. He was bathed in soft orange light from the sun setting and in that moment everything seemed quiet. "I love you, more and more every day."

She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. "I love you, too. More and more every day, Kakashi."

"MOMMY!" A familiar squeal broke the silence as Hanako wrapped herself around Sakura's leg.

Seeing Sakura pick up their daughter made him smirk, reminding him that he was still holding the kunai she had swiped from it's holster. As he went to put it back in, something got in its way. A little confused he reached into the holster and pulled out a small white stick, and turned it over in his hand.

Realization hit Kakashi like a ton of bricks when he noticed the two pink lines staring up at him. He looked up to see Sakura holding Hanako, who was snuggling her mother lovingly.

Sakura made eye contact with Kakashi and she broke into that same sly smile she had given him earlier that evening and mouthed the word 'Ninja.'

He laughed and shook his head.

"I pray for another boy, the girls are starting to out number us around here."

With that Kakashi walked into the house with Sakura, holding his kunai just out of reach of his squealing daughter's out stretched hands.

* * *

DONE!!!!!! I am working on another Kakashi/Sakura Fanfiction actually. Worked on it when I had writer's block on this one. Sorry it took forever, but I finished it! Much love to you all, keep your eyes open for the other one soon!!! :D


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